Chandrababu Naidu to take oath as Andhra CM today; PM Modi, Amit Shah, Chiranjeevi to be present

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) supremo N Chandrababu Naidu is all set to take oath as the Andhra Pradesh chief minister today. The oath taking ceremony will take place at 11:27 am near Medha IT Park opposite the Gannavaram Airport in Kesarapalli located on the outskirts of Vijayawada.

Other leaders, including Jana Sena Party (JSP) chief Pawan Kalyan, will take oath along with Naidu. As per sources, Pawan Kalyan has been offered the Deputy CM post. 

Apart from Kalyan, senior JSP leader N Manohar, Naidu's son Nara Lokesh and TDP Andhra Pradesh leader Atchannaidu will also likely take oath today. 

The Jana Sena and the BJP are likely to get 5-6 berths in the state cabinet. As per the strength of the Andhra Pradesh assembly (175), the cabinet can have 26 ministers including the CM.

Chandrababu Naidu gets allies' support

On Tuesday, the TDP Legislature Party and NDA partners elected Naidu as their leader. In his address to the legislators, Naidu said he is committed to developing Amaravati as the sole capital of Andhra Pradesh. 

"With all your cooperation, I am taking oath tomorrow (as the CM) and I would like to thank you all for that. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is coming for the swearing-in ceremony,” Naidu said.

PM Modi, Amit Shah, Chiranjeevi to attend oath taking ceremony

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief JP Nadda as well as several other leaders are expected to attend the swearing-in ceremony. The ceremony will also be graced by top South Indian film stars including megastar Chiranjeevi and his son Ram Charan. 

Chiranjeevi is the elder brother of Pawan Kalyan. Other stars who are likely to attend the ceremony include Rajinikanth, Allu Arjun and Mohan Babu. RRR star Jr NTR, nephew of Chandrababu Naidu, has also been extended an invitation. 

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami, and Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde are also expected to be present. Telangana CM Revanth Reddy is also likely to be present at the ceremony. 

Besides this, invitations have also been extended to farmers who gave their land for the construction of the Amaravati capital project, news agency PTI reported quoting TDP sources.

Invitations have also been extended to some people who were allegedly harassed during the Jagan Mohan Reddy regime. There, however, is no clarity on whether outgoing CM Reddy has been invited to the swearing-in ceremony or not. 

Chandrababu Naidu's fourth term as Andhra Pradesh CM

With this, CBN will take the oath as Andhra Pradesh chief minister for the fourth time. He first became the chief minister in 1995 and went on to have another two terms. 

In his first two terms as chief minister, beginning in 1995 aned ending in 2004, Naidu took the charge of undivided Andhra Pradesh whereas the third term came after the bifurcation of the southern state. 

In 2014, Chandrababu Naidu was the first CM of divided Andhra Pradesh and went on to serve till 2019. He lost the polls in 2019 and paved way for Jagan Mohan Reddy to take the lead. 

In 2024, Naidu has made a comeback after the NDA registered a stellar victory in the assembly polls.