Somnath Chatterjee

Some Lesser Known Facts About Somnath Chatterjee

• Did Somnath Chatterjee smoke ?: No

• Did Somnath Chatterjee drink alcohol?: Not Known

• His father was a very prominent lawyer in British India. He founded and the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha and was the one-time President of the Party.

• He started his career as a lawyer by practicing at the Calcutta High Court.

• He then joined politics and became an essential part of the CPI (M) in 1968.

  

• In 1971, after his father died, he was nominated to contest the interim elections.

• He won the elections and became a Member of the Lok Sabha. He won 9 subsequent elections but then lost to Mamata Banerjee in 1984.

• He was the leader of his party for 15 years from 1989 to 2004.

• In 2004, he won the elections and became the member of 14th Lok Sabha.

• On June 4 2004, he was appointed as the Speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha

• In 2008, he was expelled from the party on the grounds of compromising party ethics. In July 2008, in the crucial confidence vote, the party decided to vote against the government but Somnath was unwilling and hence the party decided to expel him.

• Chatterjee after his expulsion said, “one of the saddest days” of his life.

• On 13 August 2018, he died of a heart attack in a private hospital in Kolkata. After his death her daughter, Anushila Basu said that his family won’t allow CPI (M) to put their flags on his body.