Lok Sabha MPs today elected NDA nominee Om Birla as the Speaker of the lower house of Parliament. Out of the list of 17 Lok Sabha Speakers elected since independence, four were from South India.
The first Speaker from South India, which comprises Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, was M.A. Ayyangar, who represented Andhra Pradesh’s Chittoor constituency.
Ayyangar, who served as Speaker for six years and 22 days, was in office from March 8, 1956, to March 31, 1962.
List of four Lok Sabha Speakers from South India
Apart from Ayyangar, three more Speakers from Southern India were Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, K.S. Hegde, and G. M. C. Balayogi.
Following are Speakers from South India:
| Name | From | To | Term length | Constituency |
| M. A. Ayyangar | 8 March 1956 | 31 March 1962 | 6 years, 22 days | Chittoor |
| Neelam Sanjiva Reddy | 17 March 1967 26 March 1977 | 19 July 1969 13 July 1977 | 2 years, 124 days 109 days | Hindupur Nandyal |
| K. S. Hegde | 21 July 1977 | 21 January 1980 | 2 years, 184 days | Bangalore South |
| G. M. C. Balayogi | 24 March 1998 | 3 March 2002 | 3 years, 342 days | Amalapuram |
Om Birla
He was elected as MP from Kota in 2019 for the second time and was made the Speaker.
In 2024, Birla defeated a Congress candidate, his nearest rival from the Kota seat, by a margin of over 41,000 votes, becoming the first Speaker in 20 years to return to the House.
Birla also became the first Speaker ever to serve a full term without the appointment of a deputy speaker.
Now, he has become the first Speaker in over two decades to get a second term.
However, after G. M. C. Balayogi, no one joined the list of Lok Sabha Speakers from South India.
