Somnath Chatterjee, Former Lok Sabha Speaker, Dies at 89 After Cardiac Arrest

Kolkata, Aug 13: Former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee died on Monday morning at the age of 89. He breathed his last at 8.15 am. Somnath Chatterjee was suffering from a kidney-related ailment. His condition was said to be 'stable' on Sunday even after he suffered a mild heart attack.

Somnath Chatterjee has been on ventilator support since August 10 when he was re-admitted to a private hospital in Kolkata following kidney related ailments. He was first admitted to the hospital for speech and motion impediment. His health condition declined due to additional ailments concerning his lungs, liver and urinary tract.

“He has been under treatment for the past 40 days. Chatterjee was discharged from the hospital just for three days after his health showed signs of improvement. However, his condition deteriorated last Tuesday and he had to be hospitalised again,” an official said on Sunday.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi condoled the death of Chatterjee and called him an institution. "I mourn the passing away of Shri Somnath Chatterjee, 10 term MP and former Speaker of the Lok Sabha. He was an institution. Greatly respected and admired by all parliamentarians, across party lines. My condolences to his family at this time of grief," he tweeted.

Chatterjee was the speaker of Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2009. He has been associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for most of his life. However, he was expelled from the party in 2008 when he refused to resign as the Speaker after his party withdrew support to the UPA-I government.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 13, 2018 09:15 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).