VIJAYAWADA: TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu‘s spectacular comeback after five years on the sidelines and some tribulation, including arrest, culminated Wednesday in his taking the oath of office as Andhra Pradesh‘s CM for the fourth time — the first two at the helm of the then undivided state — alongside 24 cabinet ministers.
PM Modi led the BJP pantheon, including home minister Amit Shah and health minister and BJP president J P Nadda, at the swearing-in of their party’s key ally at the Centre and the state.
Actor and Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan, who was instrumental in forging the winning combination with TDP and BJP, joined the cabinet and is tipped to get the deputy CM’s post. Naidu’s son and TDP national general secretary, Nara Lokesh, was among those sworn in by governor and retired SC judge S Abdul Nazeer at the star-studded event near Kesarapalli on the outskirts of Vijayawada.
Naidu, who is expected to take a call on portfolios by Thursday evening, ensured all regions of the state were being represented in the cabinet. The mix takes into account the original 13 districts of the bifurcated state before the erstwhile YSRCP govt of Jagan Mohan Reddy doubled that number.
The new CM balanced caste priorities by giving eight ministerial berths to representatives of backward classes. The Kamma community got five, while the Kapus received four.
AP can have up to 26 ministerial berths, of which 25 have been filled. TDP accounts for 21 of these, while JSP has three and BJP one. Nadendla Manohar and Kandula Durgesh of JSP are in the cabinet, while A Satya Kumar is BJP’s lone face.
Of the 24 cabinet ministers, 17 are newcomers. Only TDP state president Kinjarapu Atchennaidu, Kollu Ravindra, Kolusu Pardasarathi, Anam Ram Narayana Reddy and P Narayana have been ministers before. Manohar of JSP was the speaker of the undivided assembly when Congress was in govt from 2011 to 2014.
Vangalapudi Anitha, Satya Kumar Yadav, Nimmala Ramanaidu, NMD Farooq, Payyavula Keshav, Anagani Satya Prasad, DBV Swamy, Gottipati Ravi Kumar, Kandula Durgesh, Gummadi Sandhyarani, B C Janardhan Reddy, T G Bharath, S Savitha, Vasamsetti Subhash, Kondapalli Srinivas and Mandipalli Ram Prasad Reddy are first-timers in the cabinet.
In a message on X, Modi congratulated Naidu and his cabinet colleagues, saying the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance would work towards taking the state to new heights and realising the dreams of the youth.
Former vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu and retired CJI N V Ramana attended the gathering along with industrialist Gautam Adani, GMR Group founder G M Rao, and actors Chiranjeevi, Rajinikanth, Ram Charan, Nikhil, and Shivaji.
PM Modi led the BJP pantheon, including home minister Amit Shah and health minister and BJP president J P Nadda, at the swearing-in of their party’s key ally at the Centre and the state.
Actor and Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan, who was instrumental in forging the winning combination with TDP and BJP, joined the cabinet and is tipped to get the deputy CM’s post. Naidu’s son and TDP national general secretary, Nara Lokesh, was among those sworn in by governor and retired SC judge S Abdul Nazeer at the star-studded event near Kesarapalli on the outskirts of Vijayawada.
Naidu, who is expected to take a call on portfolios by Thursday evening, ensured all regions of the state were being represented in the cabinet. The mix takes into account the original 13 districts of the bifurcated state before the erstwhile YSRCP govt of Jagan Mohan Reddy doubled that number.
The new CM balanced caste priorities by giving eight ministerial berths to representatives of backward classes. The Kamma community got five, while the Kapus received four.
AP can have up to 26 ministerial berths, of which 25 have been filled. TDP accounts for 21 of these, while JSP has three and BJP one. Nadendla Manohar and Kandula Durgesh of JSP are in the cabinet, while A Satya Kumar is BJP’s lone face.
Of the 24 cabinet ministers, 17 are newcomers. Only TDP state president Kinjarapu Atchennaidu, Kollu Ravindra, Kolusu Pardasarathi, Anam Ram Narayana Reddy and P Narayana have been ministers before. Manohar of JSP was the speaker of the undivided assembly when Congress was in govt from 2011 to 2014.
Vangalapudi Anitha, Satya Kumar Yadav, Nimmala Ramanaidu, NMD Farooq, Payyavula Keshav, Anagani Satya Prasad, DBV Swamy, Gottipati Ravi Kumar, Kandula Durgesh, Gummadi Sandhyarani, B C Janardhan Reddy, T G Bharath, S Savitha, Vasamsetti Subhash, Kondapalli Srinivas and Mandipalli Ram Prasad Reddy are first-timers in the cabinet.
In a message on X, Modi congratulated Naidu and his cabinet colleagues, saying the TDP-JSP-BJP alliance would work towards taking the state to new heights and realising the dreams of the youth.
Former vice-president M Venkaiah Naidu and retired CJI N V Ramana attended the gathering along with industrialist Gautam Adani, GMR Group founder G M Rao, and actors Chiranjeevi, Rajinikanth, Ram Charan, Nikhil, and Shivaji.