Somnath Chatterjee, former Lok Sabha Speaker, dies

One of the finest and honest politicians and former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee has died today morning. The veteran communist has breathed his last after 8 AM at a hospital in Kolkata. Somnath was 89. He had been suffering from age-related ailments and was in and out of hospital for the last two months. He had suffered a stroke in the end of June and was unwell since then.Somnath was considered as a stalwart politician. During his tenure as Lok Sabha Speaker from 2004 to 2009 (the first UPA regime), the infamous bribe money allegations rocked the house. The cash-for-votes scandal that broke in 2008 when Amar Singh and three BJP MPs waved wads of currency notes in the Parliament alleging that Manmohan Singh (then PM) goverment tried to bribe them in the No-Confidence Motion.Somnath Chatterjee was a great communist. He was 10-time MP and was known for running the house in an unpartisan manner. He had vouched for electoral reforms and was against the political corruption. Somnath had joined CPM in 1968 and continued in the party till his last breath.