Naidu, 18 ministers to take oath

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N. Chandrababu Naidu will take oath as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh along with 18 ministers Sunday evening near here.

Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan will administer oath of office and secrecy to Naidu and ministers at 7.27 p.m. at a public event at the Acharya Nagarjuna University near this town in south coastal Andhra.

K.E. Krishna Murthy and Chinnarajappa will be the deputy chief ministers, TDP sources said.

During the poll campaign, Naidu promised to have two deputy chief ministers from the backward class and Kapu communities.

The TDP has given two cabinet berths to its ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

K. Srinivas and Manikyala Rao are the representatives from the BJP.

Senior TDP leaders Y. Ramakrishnudu, B. Gopalakrishna Reddy, Paritala Sunita and P. Raghunath Reddy will take oath as ministers. Ramakrishnudu is a member of the legislative council.

P. Narayana, who runs Narayana Group of educational institutions, is the surprise choice as he is not a member of either house of the state legislature.

Naidu will be the first chief minister of residual Andhra Pradesh after the separate Telangana state was carved out June 2.

The 64-year-old earlier served as the chief minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh from 1995 to 2004. He was leader of opposition for nearly a decade.

The TDP bagged 102 seats in 175-member Andhra Pradesh assembly. Its ally BJP won four seats.