(This story was first published on 13 August 2018 and has been reposted from The Quint’s archives to mark Somnath Chatterjee’s first death anniversary.)
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“I have absolute confidence in myself, and the fact that when I sit in the chair of the Speaker, I shall do my best to fulfil my role in a manner that will not raise any doubts in anybody's mind. I am fully confident of that.”
Former Lok Sabha Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, who has served for nearly 40 years in active politics, passed away on Monday, 13 August at 8:15 am, in a Kolkata hospital.
In a career spent observing, participating in and shaping India’s polity, Chatterjee won respect from all parties alike – a near anomaly in the history of Indian politics.
He gained public favour through his zeal for transparency and an iron-will where he put his weight behind the side he truly believed should win. It was a characteristic which even made him lose ground with his own party, the CPI(M), in 2008.
Outside the Parliament, Chatterjee was a football fanatic. He told The Telegraph in an interview, that while he was a fan of Lionel Messi – much like every red-blooded Calcuttan – he found Ronaldo “too arrogant”.
True to his Bengali heritage, he was a connoisseur of Rabindranath Tagore’s literature and continued his family’s legacy in becoming the third generation to practice law – his profession before he entered Indian politics.
Before being a lawyer, he studied at the prestigious Presidency College and the University of Calcutta in Kolkata and later, obtained a law degree from Jesus College in Cambridge.
Unanimously Approved As Speaker
The first instance of Chatterjee’s popularity – both within and outside the House – was when he was appointed as the 14th Speaker of the Lok Sabha on 4 June 2004. The Motion which was moved by the then-Congress president Sonia Gandhi and backed by the then-defence minister Pranab Mukherjee was supported unanimously by 17 leaders of the other parties, who had all proposed Chatterjee’s name.
During his felicitation, where he thanked those who had proposed his name, Chatterjee had famously said,
The behaviour and conduct of some legislators have become subject of justified criticism and, in some cases, even of ridicule. We should resolve to change this perception in the minds of the people by our own conduct, both inside and outside the House.
Chatterjee went on to serve as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2009.
‘Saddest Day of My Life’: On Expulsion From CPI(M)
One of the greatest challenges that Chatterjee had to face as Speaker was during the Trust Vote of 22 July 2008.
After the CPI(M) had decided to withdraw its support from the UPA-led government in mid-2008, it inadvertently added Chatterjee's name on its list of MPs who would follow suit – despite his non-partisan position as Speaker.
Chatterjee was left with the difficult choice of having to choose between his party –which would mean voting against the government and aligning him with the right-wing Opposition party BJP – or continuing as the Speaker of the House.
He chose the latter.
Following the No-Confidence Vote, which the government won, the CPI(M) on 23 July 2008 expelled him from the party for “seriously compromising the position of the party.”
With this, Chatterjee’s association with the party, which spanned over four decades, came to a bitter end.
Chatterjee’s determination to not be swayed by his party’s decision, even after pressure from its then-chief Jyoti Basu, however, won him appreciation from some quarters across the country, and even overseas.
‘Not a Shirker, Don’t Run Away’
In an interview with Frontline magazine, Chatterjee had once said,
I know the Speaker’s position is totally different from that of an active Member of Parliament, which I have been for so long. But it was a challenge and I have taken it up.Somnath Chatterjee
Chatterjee had been extremely active during his long reign as an MP. Over the years, he had served on several parliamentary committees as chairman and as member.
He served two terms as the Chairman of the Committee on Subordinate Legislation and Committee on Information Technology, and three terms each as the Chairman of the Committee of Privileges, Committee on Railways and Committee on Communications.
Along with this, he was also a Member of the Rules Committee, General Purposes Committee, Business Advisory Committee and the Ethics Committee.It was also on his insistence that the ongoings of the ‘Zero Hour’ were broadcast live on television from 5 July 2004.
For his unwavering service, he was awarded the “Outstanding Parliamentarian Award” back in 1996.
In an interview with the Caravan magazine in 2017, the former Lok Sabha Speaker was asked about his views on the Narendra Modi government and the rise of a ‘nationalist identity’ which it had brought about.
Calling Modi a “good actor” and a “ruthless showman”, he had said,
Governance and religion cannot be a question of compatibility. It is a question of different areas of functioning altogether. Religion is a personal matter. Governance is a matter, which is different.
He had added that the present BJP regime, which was the last one he was to witness, made him “despondent” and realised that the “expectations, the hope, the honour to be an independent country” that Indians had dreamed of on 15 August 1947, had not been fulfilled.
Chatterjee created an enduring legacy in the field of Indian politics and law – whether with his dry Bengali wit which lightened the chaotic Parliamentary sessions or his insistence on the Parliament’s responsibility to the public.
And when he did leave, he offered yet another straight-faced, sardonic explanation that left no one guessing. In his last formal session as Speaker, he said,
“At this age, I felt that I should go to sanyaas, rather than impose myself on anybody else.”
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