Naidu took 24 MLAs into his Cabinet which included 13 OCs,7 BCs, two Scheduled Castes (SCs), one Scheduled Tribes (ST) and one minority (BC).
Published Jun 12, 2024 | 12:58 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 12, 2024 | 6:57 PM
Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu
With over two lakh eyes fixated on him with growing excitement, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu was sworn in as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh for the fourth time at the Medha IT Park Grounds in Kesarapalli near Vijayawada Airport on Wednesday, 12 June.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah and a battery of central ministers and film personalities, including Tamil actor Rajnikanth and Telugu actor Chiranjeevi, witnessed the spectacle as Andhra Pradesh Governor Syed Abdul Nazeer administered the oath of office and secrecy to Chandrababu Naidu and his 25 member-council of ministers.
The swearing-in programme began at about 11.35 am immediately after Modi arrived at the venue.
As Naidu started reading out the oath after the Governor, he was overcome by emotion, probably because his five-year-long fight against the YSRCP rule flashed through his mind.
Naidu will assume charge of his office at 4.41 pm on Thursday at the state secretariat here, TDP sources said.
Naidu, along with his family members, will be leaving for Tirupati on Wednesday evening, stay there overnight and visit the Sri Venkateswara Swamy Temple on Thursday morning.
Naidu was sworn in as chief minister with grandeur, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several dignitaries this morning.
Naidu will be signing files pertaining to poll promises and, as part of that, he will sign a file for teachers’ recruitment tomorrow, He will also sign a file “abolishing “ the Land Titling Act” that the previous YSRCP government tried to implement, the sources said.
Furthermore, Naidu will also sign a file paving the way for enhancing the social pension for beneficiaries to ₹4,000 per month from the existing ₹3000.
He will also clear files pertaining to undertaking skill census in the state and setting up ‘Anna canteens’, they said.
After he took oath, Modi congratulated him by presenting a bouquet and a very affectionate hug, patting him on his shoulder repeatedly for a few moments.
As the party workers burst out crackers, Naidu, his comrade-in-arms and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan and TDP general secretary Nara Lokesh took the oath.
Naidu’s wife Bhuvaneswari and her sister and BJP state president Daggubati Purandeswari were present on the dais along with other dignitaries.
Lokesh’s wife Brahmani and their son were in the VIP gallery. Brahmani’s father and Hindupur TDP MLA and actor N Balakrishna was seen patting his sister and Naidu’s wife Bhuavneswari before the swearing-in ceremony began.
The venue near Vijayawada Airport teemed with party workers and the audience since morning. They arrived much earlier to avoid traffic snarls and jostling as it appeared more than one lakh crowd would be turning up for the event which eventually turned out as per the expectations.
Naidu took 24 MLAs into his Cabinet — leaving one berth vacant — which included 13 Other Castes (OCs),7 Backward Castes (BCs), two Scheduled Castes (SCs), one Scheduled Tribes (ST) and one minority (BC).
The Jana Sena got three berths — Pawan Kalyan, Nadendla Manohar and Kandula Durgesh — while the BJP got only one, Satyakumar Yadav.
The first-time MLAs who made it to the Cabinet were Sandhya Rani, TG Bharath, Savitha, Vasamsetty Subhash, Kondapalli Srinivas, Mandpalli Ramprasad Reddy, Pawan Kalyan (Jana Sena), Kandula Durgesh (Jana Sena) and Satyakumar Yadav (BJP).
One berth is vacant since the BJP gave Naidu only one name even though he wanted to accommodate two of the eight legislators of the saffron party into his Cabinet.
The TDP has 135 MLAs in the Assembly, while JSP and BJP have 21 and eight lawmakers, respectively.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil)
