By IANS,
New Delhi : Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee has started writing his memoirs as his tenure is coming to an end after the new house is elected later this month, an official said Wednesday.
“At the moment, he is busy with his book,” said a senior official with the speaker’s office.
The speaker Wednesday made a courtesy farewell call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at his office in Parliament House.
“It was just a courtesy farewell visit,” the official who did not wish to be named told IANS.
Chatterjee has been actively engaged in various programmes during his last days as the Lok Sabha speaker.
“Today (Wednesday) the speaker, along with the prime minister, leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha L.K. Advani and other parliamentarians paid floral tribute to Motilal Nehru at the Central Hall of Parliament on his birth anniversary,” said the official.
“President Pratibha Patil yesterday (Tuesday) hosted a lunch in honour of the speaker, which is unheard of in the past,” he said.
“Both Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also hosted a dinner separately in the honour of Chatterjee last month,” the official said.
On Monday, Chatterjee visited ailing former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
“He also visited Vice President Hamid Ansari Monday,” the official said.
Chatterjee along with Ansari laid the foundation stone for the new Parliament House annexe building Tuesday.
The speaker has also been busy with seminars and lectures.
“He will inaugurate an international seminar on comparative contexts of discrimination at India Habitat Centre today (Wednesday) evening,” said the official.
“Before demitting the office, he will go to Kolkata for a short while. He is likely to shift to the new house in his home state at the end of this month,” he said.
“His wife is building a new house near Santiniketan,” he added.