Chandrababu Naidu takes oath as Andhra Pradesh CM for the fourth time

Vijayawada: Amidst applause from lakhs of spectators, TDP supremo N Chandrababu Naidu was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh for the fourth time.

On Wednesday, Naidu took oath of office and secrecy at an auspicious muhurtham of Sukla Paksha Sashti that began at 11:27 am in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Medha IT Park Grounds in Kesarapalli near Gannavaram Airport.

A host of stars and dignitaries, like Tamil superstar Rajnikanth, Tollywood's mega star Chiranjeevi, Union Ministers Amit Shah, J P Nadda, Nitin Gadkari, Chirag Paswan, and Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu, descended in Vijayawada to participate in the ceremony.

The ceremony witnessed 24 cabinet ministers, including Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan and Naidu's son Nara Lokesh, taking oaths.

Pawan Kalyan is tipped to be the deputy chief minister. The TDP-led NDA alliance swept the May 13 polls, winning 164 of the 175 seats in the Andhra Assembly and 21 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The incumbent YSRCP, which had stormed to power in 2019 with record numbers, had to settle with a meagre 11 assembly and four Lok Sabha seats.

The TDP, Jana Sena, and BJP contested the 2014 polls in an alliance. While the TDP won 135 of the 144 assembly seats, Jana Sena won all 21 seats it contested, and the BJP won eight assembly seats.

Though, Naidu's swearing in was initially scheduled for June 9, it was postponed to June 12 to adjust to Modi's swearing in as prime minister. Naidu was the only Telugu Chief Minister to have been sworn in for a fourth term, which is a record as the TDP founder, NT Rama Rao, was the first Telugu chief minister to be sworn in four times. However, it was not for four terms.

Since the TDP's humiliating defeat at YS Jagan's YSRCP's hustings in 2019, Naidu has faced back-to-back political and electoral setbacks, but he has emerged like a phoenix in Andhra politics.

In a mega comeback, Naidu trounced YSRCP and Jagan, who once looked invincible. Naidu also spent 50 days in jail in an alleged AP skill development corporation scam that was probed by CID during the YSRCP regime.

Eknath Shinde, Praful Patel, Ramanth Athawale, and former Tamil Naidu chief minister Panneer Selvam were among the NDA constituents who participated in swearing in.

Decors adorn Vijyawada

Vijayawada wore a festive look during Naidu's swearing-in. TDP workers and leaders drawn from all over the state descended in Vijayawada to witness the event.

All roads in town led to Kesarapalli IT Park, where the swearing-in ceremony took place. Traffic snarls and jams were the order of the day due to the unprecedented influx of people.

Despite having passes and invites, many could not reach the venue on time and missed the event due to heavy traffic.

Amaravati farmers, who endured tough times in the past five years due to the previous YSRCP government's three-capital plan, also participated in the ceremony in large numbers.

“It's definitely a historic day for Andhra. The state has witnessed the destruction of entire systems in the last five years. Good times are ahead,” said Surendra, a party worker from Ongole. The whole Nara, Nandamuri, and Konidela families participated in the event.