‘CEO Chief Minister’ Is Back: C Naidu Takes Oath, NDA Allies Present

TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu today took oath as Andhra Chief Minister for the fourth time today after his party scored a thumping win in the Assembly polls held alongside the general election. Twenty-four members of his cabinet also took the oath. Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP chief and Health Minister JP Nadda are attending the grand event on the outskirts of Vijayawada. The Prime Minister congratulated Mr Naidu with a hug after he took the oath. Besides Mr Naidu, Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan took the oath as Deputy Chief Minister today. An NDA ally, Jana Sena won 21 seats in the Assembly polls. Nara Lokesh, TDP leader and Mr Naidu’s son, also took the oath along with 22 others.        Mr Naidu’s TDP is among the key allies whose support helped the BJP form the government this time, despite falling short of the majority mark of 272.In the Modi 3.0 cabinet, TDP has got a cabinet minister berth and a Minister of State post. Mr Naidu has pledged to firmly back the NDA government led by Prime Minister Modi. The NDA alliance comprising TDP, Jana Sena and BJP won 164 seats in the 175-member Assembly this time. The alliance also swept the Lok Sabha election, winning 21 of Andhra’s 25 seats and decimating the incumbent YSR Congress Party.In Odisha, Mohan Charan Majhi will take the oath as Chief Minister today in an afternoon ceremony that is likely to be attended by the Prime Minister.The BJP’s victory in these state polls has ended the two-decade rule by the Biju Janata Dal and its leader Naveen Patnaik, who narrowly missed out on becoming the country’s longest serving Chief Minister.The BJP’s Chief Minister pick is a four-time MLA and a tribal leader who has been elected from the Keonjhar Assembly seat.The BJP has chosen two Deputies Chief Ministers — KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida. Mr Deo is a six-time MLA and comes from an erstwhile royal family. He was minister in the Naveen Patnaik government when the BJP and BJD were in alliance. Pravati Parida is a first-time MLA who has earlier led the state BJP women’s wing.