Somnath Chatterjee: The real Ex-Comrade

Former Lok Sabha Speaker and CPM leader Somnath Chatterjee passed away on Monday morning. Chatterjee, a member of the CPM for 40 years and taller among other party veterans, has represented the party in Parliament for ten terms. However, in a gross insult to the Communist stalwart, CPM took more than five hours to condole his demise officially.

“He was a distinguished and outstanding Parliamentarian and had a forceful presence in the House. He played a significant role in Indian Parliament and as the speaker of Lok Sabha, he strongly advocated for the Independence of the Lok Sabha Speaker’s chair. He was a man of committed ideals and was an inspiration for upcoming parliamentarians,” said Shri L K Advani in his condolence message. “I offer my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family. I pray to God to give strength to them to bear this loss. May the departed soul rest in peace,” Shri Advani added.

Condoling his death, former President Dr Pranab Mukherjee said, “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.”

However, even when the messages kept pouring in, the CPM was conspicuous by absence. There have been media reports criticising the CPM as it chose to remain silent over the death of one of its senior-most leaders. With pressure mounting on the central party leadership, eventually, the CPM politburo issued a press statement afternoon, which was reportedly sent to the media at 1.46 pm.

In the long-awaited message, the CPM politburo expressed its “grief and sorrow” at the death of the “former Speaker and 10-time Lok Sabha member”. It said that Chatterjee, a veteran parliamentarian, “played an important role in defending the foundations of the Indian Constitution, particularly its secular democratic foundations and federalism.” But the CPM statement did not have a single mention of Chatterjee”s 40-year association with the party and its various affiliated organisations.

Somnath Chatterjee was born in 1929, as the son of Nirmal Chandra Chatterjee, former president of Hindu Mahasabha. In 1971, Chatterjee succeeded his father in winning the Bolpur Lok Sabha seat as an independent candidate supported by the CPM like his father.

Somnath Chatterjee was a victim of the CPM’s high-voltage drama of withdrawing alliance with the Congress in 2008. The party reckoned Chatterjee as a mere Party member despite his non-partisan role as the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. His name was also included on the list of comrades who were told to vote against the Government. However, Chatterjee didn’t concede to the Party line. Ignoring the party”s instructions, he decided to continue as the Speaker of the House, acting in this capacity during the confidence vote. Following the incident, the CPM expelled him from CPM “for seriously compromising the position of the Party.”

For Somnath Chatterjee, it was a testing time as to whether he should follow the Indian Constitution or the Party’s constitution. He opted to stick to the former, but for the CPM, the Party constitution is always above the Indian Constitution.

After being expelled from the party during Karat rule, when Sitaram Yechury took over the reign from Karat in 2015, he requested Chatterjee to rejoin the party. But Chatterjee remained adamant that ‘he had followed the call of his conscience in 2008.’

In fact, it is a rare honour for Chatterjee, who chose to remain as ex-comrade till his death, that there was scant mention in the party”s statement that he was ever a member of the CPM.

The then West Bengal CPM secretary Biman Bose put it in right words, “Chatterjee may have acted according to the Indian Constitution but the party constitution is supreme in the case of party members!”