Vijayawada: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday took oath as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for the fourth time. He took oath near Medha IT Park opposite Gannavaram Airport in Kesarapalli on the outskirts of Vijayawada. Andhra Pradesh Governor S Abdul Nazir administered the oath to the Chief Minister and ministers. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attended the swearing-in ceremony.
Apart from PM Modi, Union Minister Amit Shah, BJP President JP Nadda, Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Ramdas Athawale, Anupriya Patel, Chirag Paswan, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, NCP leader Praful Patel and former Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu also attended.
Pawan Kalyan became deputy CM
Pawan Kalyan, who won from Pithapuram assembly constituency, has been made Deputy CM in the Chandrababu cabinet. Pawan Kalyan started his political journey along with his elder brother Chiranjeevi. Chiranjeevi founded the Praja Rajyam Party in 2008. However, he was not very active in politics after his brother merged the Praja Rajyam Party with the Congress. Later Pawan Kalyan founded the Janasena Party in 2014.
Apart from the CM and Deputy CM, TDP national general secretary and Chandrababu Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh has also taken oath as minister in the Andhra Pradesh government.
Rajinikanth became witness to the swearing-in ceremony
South cinema superstar Rajinikanth and Padma Vibhushan award winning actor Chiranjeevi reached Gannavaram Mandal located in the IT Park of Kesarapalle.
Naidu will go to Tirumala as soon as he becomes CM
After taking oath, Chandrababu Naidu will go to Tirumala on Thursday and offer prayers at the Lord Venkateswara temple there. According to temple management sources, Naidu will reach Tirumala with his family members this evening after taking oath. After staying there overnight, he will first go to Bhu-Varaha Swamy temple in the morning and then offer prayers at the Lord Venkateswara Swamy temple. From here he will leave for Vijayawada from Renigunta airport.
Naidu was unanimously elected leader of the NDA Legislature Party on Tuesday. He first became Chief Minister in 1995 and led undivided Andhra Pradesh for nine consecutive years till 2004. He then returned to power as Chief Minister of the newly divided Andhra Pradesh in 2014 and remained on it till 2019.
The total number of MLAs in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly is 175. According to this, there can be 26 ministers in the cabinet including the Chief Minister. In Andhra Pradesh, the NDA includes TDP, BJP and Janasena. In this election, the NDA has won 164 seats.