New Delhi: On the occasion of the birth anniversary of former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee, current Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, along with other leaders, paid floral tribute at the Constitution House of the Parliament on Thursday.
Birla was accompanied by Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Narayan Singh and other leaders at the Constitution House. Birla also took to X, showing respect to the former Speaker and said, "Respectful remembrance of former Lok Sabha Speaker Shri Somnath Chatterjee ji on his birth anniversary.
He enhanced the prestige of the Speaker's chair by his efficient and clean conduct of the House. He played an important role in further brightening the aura of our parliamentary democracy by nurturing legislative traditions."
Union Minister Jual Oram said, "Remembering Former MP and Speaker of Lok Sabha, Shri Somnath Chatterjee on his birth anniversary. An outstanding parliamentarian and a man of principle, he was also a voice for the downtrodden.
Somnath Chatterjee passed away in 2018 at the age of 89. He was associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and served as the Lok Sabha Speaker from 2004 to 2009 during the UPA-I rule.
He was an advocate by profession and became a member of the Lok Sabha in 1971 as an independent candidate supported by the CPI(M). He is one of the longest-serving parliamentarians, having been elected as the MP in Lok Sabha for a total of ten times--from 1971 to 2009--except in the 1984 election where he was defeated by Mamata Banerjee.
Chatterjee was elected Speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha after being named pro tem speaker after the 2004 General Election. After Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar, he was the second pro-tem Speaker to be elected to the House by a unanimous vote.
He was expelled from the CPI (M) in 2008 for refusing to step down as Speaker following the party's withdrawal of support from the UPA coalition. In 2008, Chatterjee declined to vote against the government in the No-Confidence Motion because doing so would have required her to support the opposition BJP. 2009 saw his retirement from active politics.