LS Speaker Birla Pays Tribute To Former Speaker Somnath Chatterjee On His Birth Anniversary

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla today paid floral tributes to former Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee on his birth anniversary. On the occasion, Members of Parliament, former Members of Parliament and other dignitaries also paid floral tributes to Somnath Chatterjee.

Somnath Chatterjee was born on 25 July 1929 in Tezpur, Assam. A distinguished lawyer by profession, he entered active politics in 1968 and was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 1971. Over the course of an exceptional parliamentary career, he served ten consecutive terms as a Member of Parliament. In recognition of his outstanding contributions to the Indian parliamentary system, he was also conferred the Outstanding Parliamentarian Award in 1996.

On 4 June 2004, he was unanimously elected as the Speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha, a position he held with great distinction until 31 May 2009. During his tenure as the Lok Sabha speaker, he oversaw the launch of Lok Sabha Television (LSTV), a 24-hour parliamentary channel, in July 2006 and inaugurated the high-tech Parliamentary Museum in August 2006.(UPDATED ON 25TH JULY 2026)