Mr. Somnath Chatterjee is no more.
The former Lok Sabha Speaker and expelled member of the CPM died just after 8 am today at a hospital in Kolkata.
Mr. Chatterjee had celebrated his 89th birthday on July 29.
POLITICAL BACKGROUND:
Lok Sabha Speaker from 2004 to 2009.
Mr Chatterjee was a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for 40 years since 1968.
He lost only one election in his lifetime -- to Mamata Banerjee from the Jadavpur constituency in 1984.