HYDERABAD, March 23: A humble Dalit from coastal Andhra Pradesh, Ganti Mohana Chandra Balayogi, suddenly found himself at the centre-stage of national politics with the ruling BJP combine deciding to support the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MP for Lok Sabha speakership.Balayogi, Minister for Higher Education in the Chandrababu Naidu Cabinet, is the lone TDP MP in south coastal Andhra Pradesh, who managed to win the recent Lok Sabha election with a good majority.Born in a tiny village Yedurulanka in East Godavari district in 1951, Balayogi did his post-graduation from Andhra University. After completing his post-graduation from Andhra University, he practised as an advocate in the Kakinada Bar Association from 1980 to 1987. In 1985, he was selected for the post of a first class magistrate and underwent training for two months as Munsif magistrate before resigning the post to continue his legal practice.Having formally entered politics in 1982, Balayogi served as the chairman of the East Godavari zillaparishad from 1987 to 1991. In 1991, he was elected to the Lok Sabha from Amalapuram (SC) constituency.Balayogi lost the Lok Sabha polls in 1996 from Amalapuram but was elected to the State Assembly the same year in the by-election to Mummidivaram constituency. In December, 1996, he was inducted into the Chandrababu Naidu Cabinet. In the recent Lok Sabha election, he defeated sitting Congress MP K S R Murthy from Amalapuram constituency. He stood by TDP in the wake of a split in the parliamentary party in the mid-1990s.
