Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee dies at 89

89-year-old Chatterjee was suffering from a kidney-related ailment. He was moved to the hospital on Tuesday.

Kolkata: Former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee, who was put on ventilator support in a Kolkata-based hospital following a heart attack, died on Monday.

Chatterjee, 89, was suffering from a kidney-related ailment. He was moved to the hospital on Tuesday.  A 12-member team of doctors was keeping a constant watch on the veteran politician.

Last month, Chatterjee had suffered a haemorrhagic stroke.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter expressing grief about the saddening incident. "I mourn the passing away of Shri Somnath Chatterjee, 10 term MP and former Speaker of the Lok Sabha. He was an institution. Greatly respected and admired by all parliamentarians, across party lines. My condolences to his family at this time of grief," he said.

I mourn the passing away of Shri Somnath Chatterjee, 10 term MP and former Speaker of the Lok Sabha. He was an institution. Greatly respected and admired by all parliamentarians, across party lines. My condolences to his family at this time of grief. #SomnathChatterjee

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) August 13, 2018

Chatterjee was a 10-time Lok Sabha MP and was a central committee member of the CPI(M). He had stepped into the world of politics in 1968.

He served as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2009.

The veteran leader was expelled from the CPI(M) in 2008 for refusing to resign as the Speaker after his party withdrew support to the UPA-I government.

(With inputs from PTI)