Tributes pour in for former LS Speaker Somnath Chatterjee

Former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee passed away in a Kolkata hospital on Monday morning. He was 89.

Somnath Chatterjee, who was hospitalised in a critical condition last week, suffered a heart attack on Sunday morning, a hospital official said.

The veteran Left leader had been put on ventilator support at the city nursing home since last Tuesday following a kidney-related ailment.

The 89-year-old was earlier admitted to the nursing home on June 25 after suffering a haemorrhagic stroke.

He underwent treatment for 40 days and was discharged just for three days after his health showed signs of improvement. However, he was re-admitted after his condition deteriorated last Tuesday, the officer said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and other politicians have been quick to pay tributes to the veteran leader on Twitter.

Condoling the death of former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee called it a great loss.

Chatterjee, regarded as an outstanding parliamentarian, served as the Lok Sabha Speaker from 2004 to 2009.

The 10-time Lok Sabha member was expelled from the Communist Party of India-Marxist on July 23, 2008, "for seriously compromising the position of the party" as he refused to resign as the Speaker after the CPI-M withdrew support to the first United Progressive Alliance government over the India-US civil nuclear deal.

With inputs from IANS

This story was updated to include tributes at 11.25am