KOLKATA: The city on Monday lost a veteran politician, who was respected most by the leaders of the party that expelled him. Former speaker
Somnath Chatterjee's death at 89 left people across party lines mourning on Monday.
Chatterjee was on ventilation for the past two days, going through
dialysis etc in a private hospital in Kolkata. The veteran parliamentarian suffered a massive heart attack on Monday and breathed his last at 8.10 am. Chatterjee's condition was critical on Sunday, after her was put on ventilator support in a private hospital near Minto Park in south-central Kolkata. He was in and out of the hospital for the past two months.
The UK-trained barrister joined the CPM in 1968, but was expelled from the party in 2008. The towering figure, a 10-time parliamentarian was shown the door by the CPM during the tussle between the CPM and the ruling USA over the Indo-US nuclear deal. But even after the expulsion, several CPM leaders would turn to him in times of crisis.
The Lok Sabha veteran was admitted in hospital on 10 August. He was suffering from kidney problems and was dialysis. Chatterjee was earlier hospitalised in July after a hemorrhagic stroke. Among those mourning his demise are lawyers at Calcutta high court. Chatterjee was an eminent practitioner at the high court. CPM leaders, high court personalities and many others are already waiting outside Chatterjee’s Lake Road residence to pay their last respects to the patriarch.
He was one of the longest serving parliamentarians, serving as the Speaker from 2004 to 2009. He became an MP in 1971 and elected for the first time as an independent candidate supported by the CPM.
But in 1984, he lost to Mamata Banerjee. And the 29-yr-old
Mamata Banerjee made a stormy entry into politics by defeating the CPM heavyweight.
Chatterjee graduated with a law degree from Cambridge. He went to Kolkata 's Mitra Institution, studied in Presidency College. Chatterjee was respected by all for his parliamentary propriety. Even though he had been a CPM member for 40 years, he always stuck to his neutrality in the House. He remained critical of his party during CPM 's opposition to the Manmohan Singh led USA over the Indo US nuclear deal. The CPM did not want the deal and withdraw support from the government in July 2008. The party wanted Chatterjee to step down before a 2-day special session of the Lok Sabha beginning July 21 and vote against the government during the trust vote. But Chatterjee saw through the trust vote, defying his party diktat, saying that as a Speaker he was above party polity.65382557
