G. M. C. Balayogi

Ganti Mohana Chandra Balayogi
12th Speaker of the Lok Sabha
In office 24 March 1998 – 3 March 2002
Deputy	P. M. Sayeed
Preceded by	Purno Agitok Sangma
Succeeded by	Manohar Joshi
Constituency	Amalapuram
Member of the Indian Parliament for Amalapuram
In office 1991–1996
Preceded by	Kusuma Krishna Murthy
Succeeded by	K. S. R. Murthy
In office 1998–2002
Preceded by	K. S. R. Murthy
Succeeded by	G.V. Harsha Kumar
Personal details
Born	(1951-10-01)1 October 1951 Yedurulanka, Madras Presidency, India (now in Andhra Pradesh, India)
Died	3 March 2002(2002-03-03) (aged 50) Kaikalur, Andhra Pradesh, India
Political party	Telugu Desam Party
Spouse	Vijaya Kumari Ganti
Children	Ganti Deepthi, Ganti Ramya, Ganti Keerthi, Ganti Harish Madhur

Ganti Mohana Chandra Balayogi (; 1 October 1951 – 3 March 2002) was an Indian lawyer and politician.

Growing up in a small Village, Balayogi had to travel to G.vemavaram village for his primary education. He received his Post Graduate in Kakinada and a law degree from Andhra University, Visakhapatnam. He was serving as the speaker of 12th Lok Sabha when he died in a helicopter crash.

Early career

Balayogi began practicing law in 1980 in Kakinada under the guidance of Gopalaswamy Shetty, and in 1985, was selected as a First Class Magistrate. He then resigned from this post and returned to the bar to resume legal practice. In 1986, he took over as the Vice-Chairman of the Cooperative Town Bank of Kakinada, and in 1987, was elected as the Chairman of the East Godavari Zilla Praja Parishad. He was the First Dalit speaker in Loksabha

Politics

In 1991, Balayogi was elected to the 10th Lok Sabha lower house parliament under the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) ticket. He lost this seat in the 1996 general elections, but continued political work in his community and was soon elected to the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly in a by-election from the Mummidivaram Assembly constituency. Subsequently, he was appointed as the Minister of Higher Education in the Government of Andhra Pradesh.

In 1998, Balayogi was elected into parliament; he became the 12th Speaker of Lok Sabha (24 March 1998) and again for the 13th Lok Sabha (22 October 1999). As the Speaker, he chaired the Business Advisory Committee, Rules Committee, General Purposes Committee and Standing Committee of the Conference of Presiding Officers of Legislative Bodies in India, and he presided over the Indian Parliamentary Group, National Group of Inter-Parliamentary Union and India Branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Along with these duties, Balayogi headed many Indian Parliamentary Delegations to foreign countries, while hosting visiting countries as well.

Death

On 3 March 2002, Balayogi died in crash of a Bell 206 helicopter in Kaikalur, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh. He was aged 50. G.M.C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium was named in his memory.

External links

• Lok Sabha Official Website: Biography
• Dalistan.org: Biography
• Outlook India: Portraits