Andhra Pradesh's 'Coolie Number 1' Chandrababu Naidu takes over as CM
Naidu also announced that the age of retirement of those employed by the state administration will be raised to 60
Exactly 68 minutes after he took charge as the first Chief Minister of bifurcated Andhra Pradesh on a sultry Sunday evening at Nambur, TDP chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu (64) reiterated his poll promises.
Naidu announced that the loans availed of by farmers, weavers and women's self- help groups will be waived, pensions given to the aged and physically challenged enhanced by Rs 1,000 a month from October 2, drinking water facilities extended to all villages under the proposed NTR Sujala scheme and 20 litres of mineral water given to the poor for Rs 2.
Naidu also announced that the age of retirement of those employed by the state administration will be raised to 60. Predictably, he did not disclose just how the cashstrapped state will raise the staggering sums or fine tune the implementation of the sops.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the NDA will do justice to the cause of the state's development and rapid growth," said Naidu, pointing out that the Congress will soon be forgotten in the state. He appealed to people who belong to the state, wherever they may be in the world, to donate generously for its growth. "Even a brick will do," said the chief minister.
"I will be Coolie No. 1 to work tirelessly for the welfare of the people of the state and make it swarna Andhra Pradesh. I will not forget this day and will always remember with gratitude the tremendous support that the people of the state have given me," declared N. Chandrababu Naidu after being sworn in as Chief Minister.
BJP support
Earlier, Andhra Pradesh governor E. S. L. Narasimhan administered the oath of office to Naidu and nineteen of his cabinet colleagues beginning at the appointed time of 7.27 pm considered the auspicious moment by his astrologers to be sworn in as chief minister for a third time. Significantly, 13 of the twenty have been made ministers for the first time.
They include three women. Of the 19 ministers, two are from the Scheduled Castes and seven are from among the BCs.
Except Kadapa, the remaining 12 districts are represented in the ministry.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi who sent his greetings on the occasion said: "Chandrababu garu's administrative experience and commitment to development will be a great asset in taking Andhra Pradesh to newer heights." The BJP was represented by a high power delegation led by the party veteran L. K. Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and included Union ministers M. Venkaiah Naidu (Urban Development), Ananth Kumar and Nirmala Sitharaman (Commerce).
Chief Ministers of BJP- ruled states Vasundhara Raje (Rajasthan), Raman Singh (Chhattisgarh), and Manohar Parrikar (Goa), besides Parkash Singh Badal, (Punjab) and his deputy and son Sukbhir Singh Badal. Nagaland Chief Minister T. R. Zeliang was in attendance too.
Others at the mammoth swearing in ceremony included actor Pawan Kalyan who campaigned for the BJP-TDP alliance, V. Gopalaswamy of the MDMK and the Art of Living Guru Sri Sri Ravishankar.