Ganesh Vasudev Mavalankar, popularly known as Dadasaheb was called the Father of the Lok Sabha.

Mavalankar, a member of the Indian National Congress was the Lok Sabha's first Speaker from May 15, 1952 till February 27, 1956.
 
Mavalankar designed the rules, practices, procedures and conventions necessary for the smooth functioning of Parliament. It was no surprise that Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru proposed his name for the post of Speaker.

Mavalankar's tenure as Speaker was the most fruitful one for the evolution of parliamentary procedures in India. He introduced several new rules and procedures and modified existing rules to suit the new conditions.

On his initiative, the 'Question Hour' in its modern sense of the term became a regular and meaningful feature of Parliament. Devices like Short Notice Questions and Half-an-Hour Discussions were introduced as means to elicit information from the government and make it truly accountable to Parliament.

Mavalankar passed away, while still in office, on Februarary 27, 1956.