Chandrababu Naidu begins exercise to constitute coalition ministry

Amaravati, June 10 (IANS) Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President, N Chandrababu Naidu, who is set to take oath as the new Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday, began consultations to constitute the coalition government.

Naidu, who was camping in Delhi for the last three days to attend the meeting of the NDA and the swearing-in of the Narendra Modi-led new Union Cabinet, returned on Monday.

After his arrival at Gannavaram Airport, Vijayawada, he drove straight to his residence at Undavalli.

He is holding a series of meetings with his own party leaders and also the allies to decide the composition of the coalition government.

Naidu had already held a few rounds of meetings with Jana Sena leader Pawan Kalyan and also BJP leaders to finalise his ministerial team.

It is still unclear as to how many ministerial berths Naidu would leave for his allies.

According to TDP sources, talks were still underway with the allies.

Pawan Kalyan is reported to be keen to get the post of Deputy Chief Minister for himself and a couple of Cabinet berths for his senior colleagues in the party.

Jana Sena won all 22 Assembly seats it contested and also bagged both the Lok Sabha seats it contested on.

However, the party has not received any representation in the Union Ministry.

Pawan Kalyan is said to be under pressure from his own party MLAs to bargain for adequate representation and key portfolios in the State Cabinet.

The BJP, which won eight Assembly seats, is also expecting a couple of ministerial berths.

In 2014, the BJP had two ministers in the coalition government led by Naidu. Both the ministers resigned in 2018 after TDP quit the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre over the delay in granting Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh.

The TDP returned to NDA in March, few weeks before the election, and entered into an alliance with both BJP and Jana Sena.

The TDP chief faces a daunting task of finalising ministers from his own party, which won a whopping 135 seats.

There are many seniors, who are strong contenders for Cabinet berths. Naidu will have to strike a good balance among three regions and various social groups while constituting his team.

There are several aspirants among the new faces and the TDP chief will also have to take this into account.

The TDP-led alliance wrested power from YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) with a massive mandate. It bagged 164 seats in the 175-member Assembly.

The YSRCP, which had 151 members in the previous Assembly, has been reduced to just 11.

Meanwhile, arrangements were in full swing for the swearing-in of Chandrababu Naidu and his team on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, several central ministers, leaders of NDA partners and chief ministers of various states are likely to attend the event, which will be held near Kesarapalli IT Park close to Gannavaram Airport.

Governor S. Abdul Nazeer will administer oath of office and secrecy to Chandrababu Naidu.

The TDP on June 7 had announced that Naidu will take oath at 11.27 A.M. However, the next day the timing was changed to 9.27 A.M. and no reasons were cited for the change in timing.

The 74-year-old will be sworn-in as the chief minister for a fourth time. This will be the second time he will be taking oath as the chief minister of the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh.

He had served as chief minister of united Andhra Pradesh between 1995 and 2004 and after the state's bifurcation served as the chief minister of the residuary state from 2014 to 2019.

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