ESL Narasimhan, Governor of Andhra Pradesh, administers oath to N Chandrababu Naidu, the first chief minister of the new Andhra Pradesh
N Chandrababu Naidu, the chief of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), today took oath as the first Chief Minister of the new Andhra Pradesh, the residuary state formed after its bifurcation for the creation of Telangana.
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Governor ESL Narasimhan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Mr Naidu at 7.27 pm, the auspicious time set for the occasion.
Thousands of people attended the grand ceremony held at the sprawling, 80-acre campus of the Acharya Nagarjuna University in Mangalagiri, situated between Vijayawada and Guntur districts. The estimated expenditure for the mega event is estimated to run into several crores.
A host of dignitaries, including Home Minister Rajnath Singh, Union ministers Ananth Kumar and M Venkaiah Naidu, senior BJP leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi, and the chief ministers of Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh were among those present. Several film stars, industrialists and sportspersons also attended the event.
19 cabinet ministers, including three women, were sworn in alongwith Mr Naidu today. Two of them are from ally, BJP.
Two of them, KE Krishna Murthy and Chinnarajappa, will be Deputy Chief Ministers. Both represent the two regions of the state, Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra respectively.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his best wishes to Mr Naidu. "The Centre is committed to extending all possible help to the people and government of Andhra Pradesh (sic)," Mr Modi tweeted.
YSR Congress Chief Jagan Mohan Reddy, on Saturday, refused to attend the ceremony, slamming the "pomp and show" associated with what he said was an "extravagant" event. (Jagan Refuses to Attend Chandrababu's 'Pompous' Swearing-in Ceremony) Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao also skipped the event. Mr Naidu had extended personal invitations to both leaders.
As chief minister, Mr Naidu's first assignment will be to sign a file relating to waiver of crop loans to farmers. The TDP chief had promised to waive off the loans while campaigning for the assembly elections which were held simultaneously with the general election.
Mr Naidu was the chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh for two consecutive terms from 1994 to 2004, and owns the distinction of being the longest-serving chief minister of the state.
His TDP partnered the BJP in the elections. It won a majority in the assembly election with 108 out of 175 seats. The partners have also won 17 seats in the Lok Sabha. With 16 seats, the TDP is the BJP's second largest ally in Parliament.
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