Finally, CPI(M) mourns Somnath but skips mention of his ties with party

Prakash Karat-led CPI(M) expelled Chatterjee when he refused to quit as Lok Sabha Speaker over the Indo-US civil nuclear deal in 2008

Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee passed away on Monday morning. Chatterjee was a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for 40 years, representing it in Parliament for 10 terms. It took nearly five hours for his party to issue a statement expressing sorrow. But there was not a single mention that Chatterjee was a member of the party.

It was less of a reflection on Chatterjee, and more the small-mindedness of the leadership of what was once a great party built by the likes of Jyoti Basu, Harkishan Singh Surjeet and Chatterjee himself.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi were among those who paid Chatterjee rich tributes. CPI (M)’s Lok Sabha member Mohammad Salim was a rare senior party leader to find the courage to pay a public tribute to Chatterjee within hours of the leader's death, and much before his party. “I lost a father figure. My tribute to Somnath Chatterjee, whom I owe a lot. Salute to a great parliamentarian,” Salim tweeted.

One of the more heartfelt tributes came from former President Pranab Mukherjee. “An outstanding parliamentarian and constitutionalist. He remained committed to the cause of the people, with a firm belief in pragmatic consensus. In his demise I have lost a personal friend, and the nation has lost a great son,” the former President said.

After some commentary in the media, including this article, the CPI (M) issued a press statement, which was sent to the media at 1.46 pm. Chatterjee passed away at a Kolkata hospital at 8.15 am.

In its long-awaited statement, the CPI (M) politburo expressed its "grief and sorrow" at the death of the "former Speaker and 10-time Lok Sabha member". It noted that Chatterjee, a veteran parliamentarian, "played an important role in defending the foundations of the Indian Constitution, particularly its secular democratic foundations and federalism."

The CPI (M) politburo statement also mentioned how Chatterjee, "an eminent lawyer by profession" , "also took up the cause of the working class and the deprived to ensure justice is delivered to them".

But the CPI (M) statement did not have a single mention of Chatterjee's 40-year association with the party and its various affiliated organisations, or his working with the various trade unions of the party.

In August 2003, Chatterjee had played a key role in bringing non-BJP Opposition leaders to have a meeting with the then Congress president Sonia Gandhi at his residence. That meeting eventually gave birth to the United Progressive Alliance.

Five years later, the CPI (M), under Prakash Karat, withdrew its support to the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government in its first term over the question of the India-US nuclear deal in 2008. It also wanted Chatterjee to quit as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, but he refused and was, therefore, expelled from the party.

Once Sitaram Yechury succeeded Karat in 2015, he called on Chatterjee and even offered to pave his way back into the party. But Chatterjee remained adamant that he had followed the call of his conscience in 2008.

Chatterjee didn’t join any other party. He also remained a critic of Karat’s line of not aligning with the Congress. In January 2018, Chatterjee said Karat was helping Prime Minister Modi and BJP by advocating that the CPI (M) shouldn’t align with the Congress for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Chatterjee’s commitment to improving the lives of the poor was lifelong, as was to deepening democracy and fighting the Sangh Parivar. He was also the chairman of the West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation from 1994 to 2004.

Born in 1929, Chatterjee followed his father Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee into studying and practising law and later politics. If Chatterjee senior was a one-time president of the All India Hindu Mahasabha, his son joined the CPI (M). In 1971, Chatterjee succeeded his father in winning the Bolpur Lok Sabha seat as an independent candidate supported by the CPI (M).

Rather famously, Chatterjee lost to upcoming Congress leader Mamata Banerjee in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections from the Jadavpur seat.

As a Lok Sabha Speaker, Chatterjee would be remembered for ensuring the live telecast of the proceedings of the House, expulsion of members who were caught asking questions in lieu of money, and for his unbiased conduct of the proceedings of the House.