Vijayawada: 

Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu was sworn in as the first Chief Minister of new Andhra Pradesh at a function at Nagarjuna Nagar, 18 kms from on Sunday.  Governor E S L Narasimhan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Chandrababu at 7:27 PM, the auspicious “muhurtam” set for the occasion.

Several Union ministers, Chief Ministers of various states and senior leaders of BJP attended the swearing-in ceremony. Naidu took oath in the name of God in Telugu amidst thunderous cheers by party workers.

Some ministers were also sworn in on the occasion. Chandrababu paid obeisance to the statue of Telugu Talli (reverential mother of Telugus) on the dais before taking oath.

Braving the blistering heat, lakhs of people attended the unprecedented grand ceremony on a sprawling 70-acre open site opposite Acharya Nagarjuna University. Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, M Venkaiah Naidu, Ananth Kumar, Kalraj Mishra, Prakash Javadekar, Nirmala Sitharaman attended the function.

Chief Ministers Parkash Singh Badal of Punjab, Manohar Parikar of Goa, Vasundhara Raje Scindia of Rajasthan, Raman Singh of Chhattisgarh, T R Zeling of Nagaland were also present along with senior BJP leaders L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and several others.

Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha P J Kurien and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal were also present. Bollywood actor Vivek Oberoi and Telugu film stars Pawan Kalyan, NTR Junior and Kalyan Ram also attended the ceremony.

Art of Living guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, badminton star Pullela Gopichand, top industrialists like G Mallikarjuna Rao of GMR Group and a host of other VIPs attended the ceremony. Chandrababu’s wife Bhuvaneswari, son Lokesh, daughter-in-law Brahmani and other relatives were also present.

Earlier in the day, Naidu paid tribute at the NT Rama Rao Ghat ahead of his swearing-in ceremony. Naidu likely to announce sops for people including rise in pensions for handicapped.

The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief is the first Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh after the formation of Telangana.  Earlier this week, Naidu had announced that he would work from Hyderabad, putting at rest speculation that he would open a “camp office” in Vijayawada.

Niadu also had to weather some political storms, mostly notably the exit of K Chandrasekhar Rao from the TDP and the launch of Telangana Rashtra Samiti with the only demand for bifurcation of the state.

He had to eventually give in to the separate state demand and alter the TDP’s united AP policy.

In 2009, Chandrababu would have wrested power from the Congress but for the emergence of actor Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) that cut into the anti-incumbency votes and helped Y S Rajasekhara Reddy retain power. Thus, Chandrababu was relegated to the opposition leader’s slot for a second successive term.

He faced the threat of political extinction as nobody gave TDP a chance of returning to power in 2014 in the face of a serious challenge posed by another new entrant YSR Congress of Jagan Mohan Reddy, son of Y S Rajasekhara Reddy on the state’s political scene.

The state bifurcation came as a blessing in disguise for Chandrababu as people saw hope only in him as a tall and “experienced” leader who could recreate the magic and build the new state of AP into a well-developed province.

The 2014 election mandate in Andhra Pradesh was decisively in his favour. And, this will be by far the biggest political challenge for the shrewd campaigner.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Naidu and said that the Centre is committed to extending all possible help to the people and government of Andhra Pradesh.

On Saturday, YSRC Chief Jaganmohan Reddy flayed the “pomp and show” associated with the “coronation” of N Chandrababu Naidu and said he does not want to be part of the “extravagant” swearing-in ceremony when Andhra Pradesh is in deep crisis.

Naidu’s TDP had fought the elections as BJP’s alliance, winning a majority in the assembly elections with 108 out of 175 seats. The party also won 17 seats in the Lok Sabha. TDP is also BJP’s second largest ally in Parliament.

Here are the highlights of the swearing-in ceremony:

• Governor ESL Narasimhan administers oath of secrecy to Chandrababu Naidu at 7:27 pm
• TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu takes oath as Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh
• AOL Sri Sri Ravi Shankar arrives at venue of swearing in ceremony of Chandrababu Naidu
• N. Chinna Rajappa takes oath as minister in Chandrababu Naidu’s Cabinet
• Ch. Ayyanapatrudu takes oath as minister in the Cabinet of Chandrababu Naidu
• B. Gopalakrishna Reddy takes oath as minister in Cabinet of Chandrababu Naidu
• Devineni Umamaheswara Rao takes oath as minister in Cabinet of Chandrababu Naidu
• Dr. P. Narayana takes oath as minister in Cabinet of Chandrababu Naidu
• Paritala Sunitha takes oath as minister in Cabinet of Chandrababu Naidu
• P. Pulla Rao takes oath as minister in Cabinet of Chandrababu Naidu
• Dr. Kamineni Srinivas of BJP takes oath as minister in Cabinet of Chandrababu Naidu
• Kamineni Srinivas takes oath as minister in Cabinet of Chandrababu Naidu
• Palle Raghunath Reddy takes oath as minister in Cabinet of Chandrababu Naidu
• Peethala Sujatha takes oath as minister in Cabinet of Chandrababu Naidu
• K. Achannaidu takes oath as minister in Cabinet of Chandrababu Naidu
• Siddha Raghava Rao takes oath as minister in Cabinet of Chandrababu Naidu
• Kimidi Mrinalini takes oath as minister in Cabinet of Chandrababu Naidu
• Kollu Ravindra takes oath as minister in Cabinet of Chandrababu Naidu
• Ravela Kishore takes oath as minister in Cabinet of Chandrababu Naidu
• Manikyala Rao takes oath as minister in Cabinet of Chandrababu Naidu
• Swearing-in ceremony concludes with national anthem
• Union Home Minister Rajnanth assures total cooperation from Centre for development of Andhra Pradesh

• Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu dedicates TDP victory in elections to Telugus
• Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announces that first cabinet meeting will be conducted at Visakhapatnam
• Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu assures that cases slapped against NGO leaders will be withdrawn
• Andhra Pradesh will be developed as number 1 state if centre extends support
• Naidu asks Telugus across globe to extend their help to construct Andhra Pradesh
• Naidu says he has confidence that NDA government will extend fullest cooperation

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Politics / by PTI/DC / June 08th, 2014