The Hindu : Balayogi cremated with state honours

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 07, 2002

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National

Balayogi cremated with state honours

By Our Special Correspondent

The Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, going around the funeral pyre of G.M.C. Balayogi, in Amalapuram, Andhra Pradesh, on Wednesday. — Photo: C.V. Subrahmanyam

AMALAPURAM March 6. The mortal remains of the Lok Sabha Speaker, G.M.C. Balayogi, were consigned to the flames with state honours here today after a host of leaders led by the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Chandrababu Naidu, and the Governor, C. Rangarajan, paid their last respects.

Balayogi's 12-year-old son, Harish, lit the pyre even as hundreds of mourners raised slogans like "Balayogi amar rahe", "Johar Balayogi" .

The leaders stood in silence and the Army jawans offered a 21-gun salute. Earlier, the body, mounted on a gun carriage, was taken through the streets of Amalapuram in a procession and brought to the cremation site by noon.

Accompanied by the State Finance Minister, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, and relatives, Harish completed the last rites.

Mr. Vajpayee went round the pyre and paid homage along with Ms. Gandhi, Mr. Naidu, and Mr. Rangarajan. The Union Ministers, Pramod Mahajan, Ram Vilas Paswan, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Bandaru Dattatreya and Krishnam Raju offered floral tributes.

The cremation was held on a five-acre land acquired for the purpose on the outskirts of Amalapuram in the vicinity of Ambedkar Bhavan.

Balayogi was killed when the private helicopter in which he was flying from Bhimavaram to Hyderabad crashed into a fish pond at Kovvadalaka village in Krishna district on Sunday.

Hundreds of men and women bade a tearful farewell to their leader.

A senior journalist recalled that Balayogi's contribution to the develoment of Konaseema ranked next only to that of Kala Venkata Rao.

Balayogi played an important role in further improving the communication facilities between Konaseema island and the mainland.

He got the Yanam-Edurulanka bridge constructed to bring Konaseema on the national highway.

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