New Delhi, June 4
Veteran parliamentarian and CPM leader Somnath Chatterjee was today unanimously elected Speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha.

Mr Chatterjee, a 10-time MP from Bolpur constituency in West Bengal, is the first Communist to occupy this high office. He is also the second Pro -Tem Speaker to be elected as the Speaker of the Lower House. V Mavalankar was the first Pro-Tem Speaker to become the presiding officer in Lok Sabha in 1952.

After taking over as the Speaker and responding to the felicitations, Mr Chatterjee urged the members to adopt an attitude of cooperation rather than that of confrontation.

“The behaviour and conduct of some legislators have become subject of justified criticism and in some cases even of ridicule,” he said. “We should resolve to change this perception in the minds of the people by our own conduct both inside and outside the House,” Mr Chatterjee said.

Mr Chatterjee’s name was proposed by Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) leader Sonia Gandhi and seconded by Leader of the House Pranab Mukherjee.

His candidature was supported by the NDA leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee and seconded by Leader of the Opposition L K Advani.

The motion supporting Mr Chatterjee’s candidature was moved by 17 other leaders from various parties, including Mr Sharad Pawar (NCP), Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav (RJD), Mr Ram Vilas Paswan (LJP), Mr Ram Gopal Yadav (Samajwadi Party), Mr Shibu Soren (JMM), Ms Mayawati (BSP), Mr Chandrasekhar Rao (TRS), Mr Nitish Kumar (JD-U), Mr Ajit Singh (RLD), Mr Omar Abdullah (NC) and Mr Basudeb Acharya (CPM).

Mr Chatterjee assumed charge as Speaker after B Vikhe Patil, who was in the Chair, declared him as elected after the House adopted the motion through a voice vote.

Attired in a white kurta, dhoti and a waist coat, Mr Chatterjee was escorted to the Speaker’s chair by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Leader of the Opposition L K Advani as per convention.

Congratulating Mr Chatterjee the Prime Minister felicitated him with words of deep appreciation and admiration and said that he was an ‘illustrious member of the august House’.

The Speaker said the members should strive to achieve the hopes and aspirations of various sections of society, especially the deprived and the dispossessed.

“For every action of the government, it is liable to answer in Parliament,” Mr Chatterjee said as he sought to remind the members about their collective responsibility.

“A very substantial number of our people still face awesome problems and do not enjoy even the minimum rights. Abysmal poverty, illiteracy, high-child mortality rate, absence of adequate healthcare, lack of job opportunities, non-availability of pure drinking water in many areas, amongst others, are the problems, which still haunt the common people and have resulted in effective denial of the Constitutional and indeed the basic human rights to our people,” he said. In such circumstances, the Speaker said, it was the ‘bounden duty’ of all Members of Parliament ‘to play a very active, responsible and effective role to meet the aspirations of the people.’