Naidu to take oath along with 19 ministers

Hyderabad, June 8 : Telugu Desam Party president Nara Chandrababu Naidu will be sworn in as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh along with his Council of 19 ministers today evening.

The swearing-in ceremony will be held at Acharya Nagarjuna University at Nambur village between Vijayawada and Guntur cities at the auspicious moment of 7.27 pm. Naidu has reportedly sent a list of 19 MLAs who will sworn-in as ministers. They include KE Krishnamurthy and Chinna Rajappa, who will be made Deputy Chief Ministers.

Besides several chief ministers and other dignitaries, nearly five lakh people are expected to take part in the swearing-in ceremony which is being held outside the State capital of Hyderabad, which has been made the common capital for both the States of Telangana and residuary Andhra Pradesh.

Born on April 20, 1950, Naidu holds the record of being the longest serving Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh from 1995 to 2004. He began his political career from Congress party and won from Chandragiri constituency in 1978 elections. He was appointed as Technical Education and Cinematography minister in T Anjaiah’s cabinet at the age of 28 and was the youngest minister.

In 1980, he married Bhuvaneswari, NTR’s second daughter. He stayed with the Congress when NTR launched the Telugu Desam Party in 1982 and swept the Assembly elections held in 1983. Naidu too was defeated by a TDP candidate in Chandragiri. Later, he joined the TDP. He got re-elected to the Assembly from Kuppam seat and have retained the seat since them.

Led by Naidu, the TDP has returned to power after a gap of 10 years and Sunday’s swearing-in ceremony will mark the beginning of a new chapter in the history of TDP and Naidu’s political career.  INN