Andhra Pradesh: Naidu, Pawan Kalyan take oath as MLAs

Jagan was not present when the session started. He reached the Assembly premises five minutes late and left after taking the oath

Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan and YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) president and former CM YS Jaganmohan Reddy took oath as MLAs on the first day of the first session of newly elected Assembly on Friday.

Chandrababu Naidu, who returned to the Assembly two-and-half years after he had walked out with a vow not to return till he became the Chief Minister, was the first to take oath. Protem Speaker G Butchaiah Chowdary administered oath or affirmation to the newly elected legislators.

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Naidu, who became the Chief Minister for the fourth time, was greeted by members of his Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and its allies Jana Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The TDP chief hugged Jana Sena leader and actor Pawan Kalyan, who has been elected to the Assembly for the first time.

The Deputy Chief Minister was the second to take oath as MLA. This was followed by Ministers, including Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh, who is also a new face in the Assembly. After the Ministers, Jaganmohan Reddy took the oath as MLA. The YSRCP chief was seen greeting Chandrababu Naidu and the treasury benches with folded hands before and after the oath.

Jaganmohan Reddy was not present when the session started. He reached the Assembly premises five minutes late and entered the House when his turn came. He left after taking the oath. Earlier, the former Chief Minister reached the Assembly building through an alternate route.

When he was Chief Minister, he used to take Seed Axis Road. He avoided the route as he apparently anticipated protests by Amaravati farmers. In the elections held last month, the TDP-Jana Sena-BJP alliance bagged 164 seats in the 175-member Assembly.

YSRCP, which had 151 members in the previous Assembly, was reduced to just 11 seats. The alliance also won 21 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats. CM Naidu and 24 ministers had taken oath on June 12. Three ministers are from Jana Sena and one from BJP.