NEW DELHI, Aug. 13 (Xinhua) -- Former speaker of lower house of the Indian parliament (Lok Sabha) Somnath Chatterjee died Monday at a hospital in India's eastern city of Kolkata, officials said.
The 89-year-old Chatterjee was admitted last week to hospital with a kidney ailment.
"Chatterjee, who was admitted at Belle Vue hospital on Aug. 8, was put on ventilator support after he suffered a heart attack. His condition turned critical yesterday and today he breathed his last," an official said.
The 10-time Indian parliamentarian was not feeling well during the last two months and had been in and out of the hospital.
According to doctors he was undergoing dialysis.
Chatterjee was associated with the Communist Party of India (Marxist) for most of his life, though he was independent in the last decade of his life.
He served as speaker of the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2009 when the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government led by Congress party's Manmohan Singh came to power.
He was expelled from the CPI-M in 2008 after he rejected to step down as the speaker and vote against the government during the trust vote. His party had withdrew support from the government over the India-U.S. nuclear deal and wanted him to follow the party line.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and opposition Congress party Chief Rahul Gandhi expressed their condolences over the demise of the leader.
"Former Member of Parliament and Speaker Somnath Chatterjee was a stalwart of Indian politics. He made our Parliamentary democracy richer and was a strong voice for the well-being of the poor and vulnerable. Anguished by his demise. My thoughts are with his family and supporters," Modi wrote on his Twitter account.
