A yogi achieves nirvana

The one question that was on everyone’s lips in Parliament on Monday last was “Who is Balayogi?” Nobody quite knew. He was after all a backbencher throughout his stint as a first-time MP in 1991 and colleagues had hardly heard him speak. Whatever little memory one had of him had evaporated during the 18 months of United Front rule when he had ceased to be a member. Andhra politicos and hacks were in great demand on the daynews broke out that former Speaker Purno Sangma had lost out to someone called Balayogi after what was widely perceived as an “opportunistic” deal between the BJP and the TDP.

Hailing from the Scheduled Caste Mala community, 46-year-old Balayogi is the country’s second Dalit Speaker. Active as a student politician in Andhra University, he turned to law for a career. He was selected for the post of munsif magistrate but quit it soon after. Politics beckoned him and he plunged into it actively in 1982 when the late N.T. Rama Rao began his hugely popular campaign to restore Telugu pride in the State. Balayogi’s experience in politics, therefore, is of fairly recent vintage. Apart from his five-year stint as MP, the only office of any significance he held was the chairmanship of the East Godavari zilla parishad.

Balayogi (the name, as Sangma so aptly translated, means “young saint”) lost the Lok Sabha elections in 1996. But he did not mourn for long over the loss of the seat. Without much ado, hecontested and won an Assembly by-election. Clearly, he had the support of his party leader and Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. The fact that he was made the State’s Minister of Higher Education testifies to this special affection that Naidu has for him. Unfortunately, his tenure in the post was known more for the controversies it generated than for anything more positive. At one point, the question papers of the intermediate examinations were leaked and put up for sale.

Within days the Opposition was going hammer and tongs on the issue. Things came to such a pass, that he was left with no option but to resign on moral grounds. But, as can be expected, his mentor in the Chief Minister’s chair refused to consider his quit offer. He was asked to continue with his ministerial responsibilities.

Despite being considered a failure as a minister, he was quite happy to carry on with the job. But his leader had other ideas. An insecure Naidu was looking for sure shot winners in the elections to the 12th LokSabha and the one name that was on the list was that of Balayogi. Once more a Lok Sabha election was thrust upon a reluctant Balayogi. But Naidu was right — he won the seat effortlessly. In fact, he notched 2,86,949 votes defeating the Congress candidate, K.S.R.Murthy, by 90,240 votes. It was sweet revenge — Murthy had won the seat in 1996.

But with no chance of becoming a minister because a United Front-led Government was not in the realm of possibility, Balayogi resigned himself to another insignificant phase in his political career. The developments on Monday morning changed all that. When he was asked to board the flight to the Capital from Hyderabad, he perhaps knew that he had hit a jackpot. His leader, whose prowess for striking political bargains has now become legendary, had brokered yet another deal — this time with his professed political foe, the BJP. The deal meant that the speakership would go to the TDP. But Balayogi could well have missed the bus. Nominations were to close at noon and hisflight was delayed. It was a race against time. In the end, he made it, but not before giving BJP leaders the jitters.

His friends say Balayogi is still unable to get over the daze that the recent events have left him in. The other day when Naidu called upon him to express his congratulations, the new Speaker is said to have told him that if he knew what was in store for him he would have conspired to arrive in Delhi 10 minutes later than he did!

And Balayogi is not indulging in an exaggeration when he says this. For one, he is only fluent in Telugu, with both conversational English and Hindi eluding him. He is also clearly at sea about parliamentary rules and procedures, although this can be worked at. But circles close to him maintain that he doesn’t lack in common sense. He has been quite a go-getter throughout his career and that experience should come in handy in his days as Speaker. Right now, he is spending his free time trying to make up for his deficiencies as a Speaker.

It will, of course, beunfair to make judgments on his capabilities when he has only just taken over. What could prove daunting are the very high standards that his predecessor, Purno Sangma, had set as a just, non-partisan Speaker. Obviously, it will be difficult for anyone, let alone a novice like Balayogi, to measure up to Sangma’s performance. To make matters worse, presiding over the 12th Lok Sabha will be even more demanding, given the character of the House with the ruling coalition and the Opposition almost equipoised in terms of strength. Then there is the distinct rancour and controversy that marked Balayogi’s election. The BJP had initially agreed to Sangma as the consensus candidate but ditched him at the last moment. Its volte face could impact upon the Speaker-Opposition relationship in the House.

During felicitation speeches to their new Speaker, many MPs made ill-disguised jibes at the man, providing a taste of things to come. Clearly, Balayogi will need all the wisdom of a “young saint” to see him through thestormy days ahead.