When the country’s first Lok Sabha convened in 1952, Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar was elected its Speaker. Many addressed G.V. Mavalankar with affection and respect as ‘Dadasaheb’; prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru called him the ‘Father of the Lok Sabha’.

Mavalankar was a Congressman and had, no doubt, a soft corner for the party. But never once did that association intrude upon his rulings from the Speaker’s chair, the directions he issued, or the way he conducted proceedings. So, when he passed away on 27 February 1956, he was remembered as the man who laid the foundations of integrity and high moral standards in India’s parliamentary system.

Mavalankar believed that as Speaker, his most sacred duty was to apply the same yardstick of justice to every member of the House—whether from the treasury benches or the Opposition. On one occasion, when he felt that the Nehru government’s tendency of promulgating ordinances was unhealthy for parliamentary democracy, he did not hesitate to write to Nehru himself. Issuing ordinances merely for lack of time, he warned, was to set the wrong precedent; Parliament must not be reduced to a ‘rubber stamp’.

His moral commitment to parliamentary sovereignty also led him to press for the establishment of an independent secretariat for the Lok Sabha. It is another matter that on 18 December 1954, the Opposition brought a no-confidence motion against him. Even while describing it as ‘frivolous’ and ‘motivated’, Nehru argued that Opposition leaders be given ample time to debate it.

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