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In Indian politics, there are politicians and then there are statesmen. Somnath Chatterjee, who was associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) till 2008 was a celebrated parliamentarian and statesman who rose above paltry political differences and commanded respect even from his staunchest adversaries. Bengal lost one of its best parliamen-tarians as Chatterjee passed away early in the morning in a private nursing home in Kolkata on August 13, 2018.

As the Speaker of Lok Sabha (2004-2009) Chatterjee stood for values like reason, integrity, secularity and sobriety that are fast obliterating for Indian politics. He was probably the last exponent of a generation of Bengali politicians like Bidhan Chandra Roy and Jyoti Basu who commanded universal respect. Chatterjee was one of those rare breed of politicians who could rise above his own sectoral and political interests when the situation demanded. Coming from a family of jurists, he became attached to the CPI (M) in 1968 and in doing so, movedaway from the political ideology of his father, Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee, who was the president of All India Hindu Mahasabha.

Born in Tezpur, Assam in 1929, Chatterjee did his schooling in Calcutta and graduated from Presidency College before moving to Cambridge for post-graduation and to Middle Temple, London for a legal degree. He was a successful lawyer before joining active politics. As a member of the communist movement in the late sixties and early seventies, Chatterjee stood with his party’s activists who were often politically persecuted and did most of these cases without any remuneration.

His tenure as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha has been widely acclaimed for his decisive yet generous handling of parliamentary situations. He is widely regarded as the driving force behind the initiation of the Lok Sabha TV. A celebrated parliamentarian, Chatterjee was elected 10 times to the Lok Sabha - thrice from south Bengal constituencies of Burdwan (1971) and Jadavpur (1977, 1980) and seven times from Bolpur (between 1985 and 2004). He was also awarded the Outstanding Parlia-mentarian Award in 1996. He also served as the Chairman of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation between 1994 and 2004 and was proactive in attracting investment for the state.

Sources close to him says he had a heart of gold. As the Speaker of Lok Sabha, he was swift to censure parliamentarians but was equally quick in winning them back. As a parliamentarian, he worked tirelessly for the cause of the marginalised. He had been an untiring sentinel of constitutional federalism and stood for democracy and pluralism, which he considered to be the pivotal principles of Indian polity. 

Chatterjee was attached to the CPI (M) for most of his political life. He had been public about his admiration of Jyoti Basu and considered Basu to be his role-model.

Although he retired from formal politics soon after his tenure as the Speaker ended, Chatterjee remained vocal on various political issues concerning West Bengal. His simplicity and genuineness won hearts and he will be remembered as an admired parliamentarian and a person who embodied the democratic ethos that are at the core of India’s polity.