On Wednesday, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader Chandrababu Naidu went on to be sworn in as the 18th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh at a ceremony held near Vijayawada.
Actor and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan was also sworn in as the deputy chief minister.
As anticipated, the event saw the attendance of prominent BJP figures, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers, Amit Shah, and JP Nadda. In addition to Naidu, a 24-member Cabinet was sworn into office.
The TDP-BJP-Janasena National Democratic Alliance, under Naidu’s leadership, achieved a decisive victory in both the assembly and parliamentary elections. Naidu was unanimously chosen as the leader of the NDA in the Andhra Legislative Assembly during a meeting with TDP, Janasena Party, and BJP legislators on Tuesday. Following this, Andhra Governor S Abdul Nazeer invited Naidu to form the government.
This swearing-in marks Naidu’s fourth term as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh and his second term since the state’s bifurcation in 2014.
For the uninitiated, Naidu’s tenure as chief minister began in 1995, prior to the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, and he governed the state for nine uninterrupted years until 2004. He made a comeback as the chief minister of the newly bifurcated Andhra Pradesh in 2014, serving until 2019, and now returning to take the oath again.