NDTV.com: Profile of Somnath Chatterjee

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Updated: November 21, 2009 22:34 IST

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Profile of Somnath Chatterjee

Monideepa Banerjie

Wednesday, July 23, 2008, (Kolkata)

Somnath Chatterjee had no idea he was going to be Speaker when he hit the campaign trail in March 2004 at his constituency in West Bengal, Bolpur - a seat he held since 1985.

A 10-term MP who joined CPM in 1968, Chatterjee was first elected to Parliament from Bardhamaan in 1971.

In 1977, he moved to the Jadavpur constituency on Kolkata's southern fringe. Mamata Banerjee, then with the Congress, defeated him there in 1984. It was the only defeat that Chatterjee ever suffered in his long career.

A distinguished parliamentarian, Chatterjee was the leader of the CPM parliamentary party from 1989 to 2004 and won the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 1996.

He was unanimously elected as Speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha on June 4 2004.

In the last two weeks, ever since the CPM, withdrew support to the UPA, pressure had been mounting on Chatterjee to quit the Speaker's chair. But he resisted, saying he would decide when to resign, even at the risk of disciplinary action against him by the party.

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