June 9, 2014
New AP CM begins rule with 19-member Cabinet, which includes three women; first Cabinet meeting expected in Visakhapatnam but date has yet to be fixed
Chandrababu Naidu (R) being congratulated by BJP leader LK Advani after the swearing in
June 9, 2014
New AP CM begins rule with 19-member Cabinet, which includes three women; first Cabinet meeting expected in Visakhapatnam but date has yet to be fixed
Chandrababu Naidu (R) being congratulated by BJP leader LK Advani after the swearing in
Vijaywada: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu was, on Sunday night, sworn in as the first chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, post its bifurcation, at a function at Nagarjuna Nagar, 18 kilometres from Vijaywada.
"I will work as 'Coolie No.1' to rebuild the state into a Swarna (golden) Andhra Pradesh, a sunrise country and a knowledge hub. I will strive to make AP the No.1 state in the country with your participation and co-operation," Chandrababu said, as he dedicated TDP's victory in the elections to the Telugu people.
Governor ESL Narasimhan administered the oath of office and secrecy to Chandrababu at 7.27 pm. Several Union ministers, chief ministers and top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and other National Democratic Alliance (NDA) parties were present on the occasion.
Chandrababu took his oath in Telugu amidst thunderous cheers by party workers. His Cabinet with 19 ministers, including three women, was also sworn in at the function. The first meeting of the Cabinet is scheduled to be held in the port city of Visakhapatnam although the date for it has not been fixed, the CM said.
He also paid obeisance at the statue of Telugu Talli (reverential mother of Telugus) on the dais before taking oath. Braving the blistering heat, lakhs of people attended the ceremony, which took place on a sprawling 70-acre open site opposite Acharya Nagarjuna University.
Union ministers Rajnath Singh, M Venkaiah Naidu, Anantha Kumar, Kalraj Mishra, Prakash Javadekar, Nirmala Sitharaman, Harsh Vardhan and Piyush Goyal attended the function.
Among the chief ministers in attendance were Parkash Singh Badal of Punjab, Manohar Parrikar from Goa, Vasundhara Raje Scindia of Rajasthan, Raman Singh of Chhattisgarh and TR Zeliang of Nagaland.
Veteran BJP leaders LK Advani and Murali Manohar Joshi; Tamil Nadu minister R Vaidyalingam; MDMK chief Vaiko; Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray; INLD leader Abhay Chautala; Akali Dal MP Naresh Gujral and a host of other dignitaries also attended the event.
Courtesy: PTI
