Naidu to take oath as Andhra CM on June 12 at Amaravati

N Chandrababu Naidu to be sworn in as Andhra Pradesh CM for the fourth time on June 12. NDA leaders to attend ceremony. Jana Sena Party and BJP to join cabinet.

Hyderabad: The Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu will be sworn in as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh for the fourth time at 12 noon on June 12, a senior TDP leader said on Thursday.

TDP Chief N Chandrababu Naidu.(PTI)

“The newly-elected MLAs of the TDP will meet at the party headquarters at Mangalagiri on June 11 and elect Naidu as the legislature party leader. The resolution would be sent to Governor S Abdul Nazeer in the same evening,” senior TDP legislator and party politburo member Gorantla Buchaiah Chowdary told reporters.

Though the venue of the swearing-in ceremony has not been fixed, it would happen at a suitable place in the Amaravati capital region, the TDP leader said, adding that all important leaders of the NDA, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and heads of other parties in the alliance, would be invited to the swearing in ceremony.

The TDP, along with its partners of the National Democratic Alliance – Jana Sena Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party – won 164 out of 175 assembly seats in the state in the just concluded assembly elections, results of which were declared on Tuesday.

Another senior TDP leader said on condition of anonymity that the two alliance partners – BJP and Jana Sena Party – also would join the Naidu cabinet, though it was yet to be discussed on how many berths each of them would be offered.

“In all probability, Jana Sena Party president and actor Pawan Kalyan, who got elected from Pithapuram assembly constituency with a huge majority, will be offered deputy chief minister post apart from cabinet berths to his senior colleague Nadendla Manohar and a couple of other party MLAs,” the TDP leader said.

Meanwhile, Naidu held a meeting of the newly-elected MPs of the TDP at his residence at Undavalli in Amaravati and congratulated them on their stupendous show in the elections, an official statement from the party said.

While some of the MPs who were present in Amaravati attended the meeting physically, others who were in their respective constituencies participated in the meeting through zoom. “The TDP chief asked the MPs to attend the NDA meeting to be held in New Delhi on Friday without fail,” the official note said, adding that all the TDP MPs are expected to reach the national capital by Thursday night.

One of the MPs who participated in the meeting said it was just a pep talk from Naidu and he had briefed them on how to safeguard the interests of the state by getting maximum benefits from the Centre. “Naidu told us that he had invited the Prime Minister to his swearing-in ceremony on June 12,” he said.

Naidu had told the MPs that he would also change his style of working in the coming days and would remain accessible to all the MPs and MLAs. “I am deeply indebted to all the party leaders and cadre for working with dedication and commitment to bring the party back to power. Let us all work within our own boundaries and not cross our limits,” he said.

The MP said the issue of the TDP asking for more berths to the party in the Central cabinet did not come up for discussion at the meeting. “But it is quite obvious that we shall ask for a good number of berths in the Union council of ministers with portfolios that would help the state,” he said.

A senior TDP leader familiar with the development said the BJP had made a tentative offer of four berths – two cabinet posts and two Minister of State posts. “But we may ask for five or six berths. More than the numbers, we are keen on important portfolios like Jal Sakthi that would help early completion of Polavaram and urban development that would help Amaravati capital city project,” he said.