NEW DELHI: On August 13, 2018, Somnath Chatterjee , who had one of the longest innings of any MP in the Lok Sabha, passed away following a heart attack. He was aged 89. The stalwart of Indian politics has delivered more than 500 speeches in Parliament. Here's a look back at his life:

* Born in Tezpur, Assam in 1929 to NC Chatterjee, who was once president of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, and Binapani Debi. He was educated in Kolkata and the United Kingdom.

* A Barrister-at-Law from Middle Temple in UK, Chatterjee was a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for four decades from 1968 to 2008, till he was expelled.

* In 1971, he became a member of the Lok Sabha for the first time supported by the CPM; was subsequently re-elected nine times, except in 1984 when he lost to Mamata Banerjee -- a win that catapulted her into politics.

* Honoured with the ‘Outstanding Parliamentarian Award’ in 1996.

* Unanimously Elected speaker of the Lok Sabha in 2004 during the UPA-I government, he was also the first communist in the country to become Speaker.

* Severely criticised for his comment “Supreme Court was encroaching on the right of the legislature by issuing orders on the proceedings of the Jharkhand Assembly during a vote of confidence.”

* Besides doing away with the practice of paying for toiletries and tea from the national exchequer under his tenure as Speaker, he was also instrumental in starting a full-fledged 24–hour Lok Sabha television channel, and telecasting live the proceedings of the Zero Hour.

* In 2008, was expelled from his party for refusing to resign as the Speaker after his party withdrew support to the UPA-I government. He believed the Speaker's post is above any party politics. He described it as the “saddest day of his life”.

* Retired from active politics in 2009.

* Came out with his book 'Keeping The Faith: Memoirs Of A Parliamentarian' in 2010.

