Ex-Speaker Bali Ram Bhagat dies

Jan 03, 2011 - Age Correspondent |

New Delhi

Congress leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Bali Ram Bhagat died early on Sunday morning at Apollo Hospital in the capital. Bhagat breathed his last at 2.30 am. He was 89. The veteran leader was undergoing treatment for kidney and liver ailments over the past some time.
Rich tributes were paid to Bhagat by leaders across the political spectrum. Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Leader of the Opposition Sushma Swaraj, senior BJP leader L.K. Advani, RJD chief Lalu Prasad, Congress leader V. Narayanasami and Bhishma Narain Singh offered floral tributes to the departed leader after his body was taken to Parliament House here.
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and state governor Shivraj Patil expressed grief over Bhagat’s demise.
Bhagat was elected Speaker of the fifth Lok Sabha on January 5, 1976 when the country was under Emergency. Born on 7 October, 1922 in Mahandi Ganj area of Patna city, he graduated from Patna College and later got a Masters Degree in Economics from Patna University. He joined the Indian National Congress in 1939.
Bhagat served as governor of Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. The veteran leader also held various portfolios like for planning, finance, defence and external affairs as a minister of state in various governments. He was elevated to the Cabinet rank in 1969 as the minister of foreign trade and supply. He also held portfolios like steel and heavy engineering and external affairs.

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