somnath chattrejee
Somnath Chattrejee has passed away. (In Picture: The Honorable President of Lok Sabha (Low Camera) of the Indian Parliament, Somnath Chatterjee prepares to give a press conference in Havana, 10 January 2008. The Indian parliamentary is in Cuba for a 3-day official visit.)ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee passed away at the age of 89 on Monday morning (August 13).

Chatterjee was on a ventilator after being rushed to the Belle Vue hospital in Kolkata on August 7. His health had deteriorated after he suffered a mild heart attack on Sunday. He breathed his last on Monday.

The 10-time parliamentarian was not keeping well for the past two months. In July, Chatterjee had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke, following which he was admitted to a private hospital for a few days. He was later discharged after his condition improved.

On August 7, he was again admitted to Belle Vue Clinic with a kidney ailment.

"Chatterjee suffered a mild heart attack today (Sunday) but has recovered from it," The Hindu quoted a senior official of Belle Vue Clinic as saying.

"He continues to be in critical but stable condition. But anything can happen when an 89-year-old man is suffering from total kidney shut down and is on dialysis. We are trying our best," Pradeep Tandon, CEO of Belle Vue clinic said, reported the English daily.

Born to a barrister named Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee, who was a prominent parliamentarian of the Hindu Mahasabha, Chatterjee had joined the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) in 1968. He was chosen as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha in 2004 when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government led by Manmohan Singh came to power.

Chatterjee had contested for the Lok Sabha in 1971 from Burdwan constituency and after he was fielded from the seat owing to the death of his father. Since then he had won nine more elections to the Lower House. (CPI(M)) severed all ties with him in 2008, when he refused to resign from the position of the Speaker after his party withdrew support from the UPA government.

The former Lok Sabha speaker was a very respectable person and loved by the people of his constituency.

A cloud of gloom now hangs over West Bengal and condolences are pouring in for the former Lok Sabha speaker.