Balayogi files papers in the nick of time

HYDERABAD, March 23: Had G M C Balayogi been just a couple of minutes late, he would have literally missed the bus. While the closing time f...

HYDERABAD, March 23: Had G M C Balayogi been just a couple of minutes late, he would have literally missed the bus. While the closing time for filing of nominations for the post of Lok Sabha Speaker was 12 noon today, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) candidate reached Parliament House at Delhi at exactly 11.58 a m.

An anxious and tense Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Home Minister L K Advani even got the nomination of K Yerran Naidu, leader of the TDP in the Lok Sabha, readied.

Evidently relieved at the successful conclusion, Chandrababu remarked to newspersons, "Had Balayogi been just two minutes late, Yerran Naidu would have got the chance…"

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The plane touched down at Delhi at 11.35 a m. Whether traffic was halted for the VIP car to pass was not known but the distance of about 25 km from the airport to Parliament House was covered in just 22 minutes.

According to information available here, the special commissioner at Andhra Bhavan, Charan Das Arha, had been informed that Balayogi was on theDelhi flight and should be taken as fast as possible to Parliament House. Having taken prior permission from the airport authorities, he managed to take the car right onto the tarmac, bundle Balayogi into it and rush him to the Lok Sabha.

Having decided to field him as candidate, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu asked Balayogi, who was still in Hyderabad this morning, to leave for Delhi immediately and file his papers. The flight was to take off at 9.05 from Hyderabad but left 15 minutes later.

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