Karishma Pranav Bhasvar | Mint | June 12, 2024
TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for the fourth term on June 12. Janasena chief and actor Pawan Kalyan also took oath as a minister in his cabinet. The swearing-in ceremony was held at Gannavaram Mandal, Kesarapalli IT Park.
After taking the oath as Chief Minister, Naidu hugged PM Modi on stage. The cabinet will have 21 ministers from the TDP, three from the Janasena Party, and one from the BJP, a TDP release said.
This is the fourth time that Naidu has assumed charge as Andhra’s Chief Minister and the second time after the state’s bifurcation in 2014. Naidu became chief minister first in 1995, before the Andhra bifurcation, and he led the state until 2004 for nine consecutive years. The TDP supremo returned as the chief minister of the bifurcated Andhra in 2014, and served until 2019.
Naidu had led the TDP- BJP-Janasena National Democratic Alliance to a landslide victory in the Assembly and parliamentary elections.
During the event, PM Modi warmly congratulated Naidu, embracing him and patting him on the back. The Prime Minister also engaged in a brief yet notable conversation with Telugu megastar Chiranjeevi, Pawan Kalyan, former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, Tamil superstar Rajinikanth, and his wife Latha.
Naidu who won from the Kuppam assembly constituency, while Pawan Kalyan and Nara Lokesh, Naidu’s son, emerged victorious in the Pithapuram and Mangalagiri assembly segments, respectively, were also sworn in. Prominent among those who attended the ceremony include union ministers Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, J P Nadda, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, ex-Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, and superstars Rajinikanth and Chiranjeevi.
The Pawan Kalyan-led party got three cabinet positions, with the BJP holding one in the 25-member cabinet. Andhra Pradesh’s assembly strength allows for 26 ministers, including the CM.
The newly inducted TDP ministers apart from Naidu and Lokesh are: K Atchannaidu, P Narayana, Kollu Ravindra, Nimmala Rama Naidu, Anitha Vangalapudi, Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, Kolusu Parthasarathy, NMD Farooq, Payyavula Keshav, A Stya Prasad, Dola Sree Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy, Gottipati Ravi Kumar, Gummidi Sandhya Rani, BC Janardhan Reddy, TG Bharath, S Savitha, Vasamsetty Subhash, Kondapalli Srinivas, and Mandipalli Ram Prasad Reddy. Janasena party’s Nadendla Manohar and Kandula Durgesh and BJP legislator Satya Kumar Yadav also took oath as ministers.
In meetings held on Tuesday, the Telugu Desam Legislature Party and NDA partners elected Naidu as their leader. The NDA coalition, comprising TDP, BJP, and Janasena, won a landslide victory in the recent simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, securing 164 out of 175 Assembly seats and 21 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh.
