In a much-awaited decision, the Andhra Pradesh government announced that Pawan Kalyan, the leader of Janasena, will serve as the Deputy Chief Minister. Along with this role, Kalyan has also been entrusted with the responsibilities of Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, Environment, Forests, and Science and Technology portfolios. Meanwhile, Nara Lokesh, the son of Chandrababu Naidu, has been assigned the Human Resources Development, Information Technology, and Communication portfolios. Lokesh, who holds an MBA from Stanford and has previously worked with the World Bank, is a former minister and emerged victorious in the Mangalagiri constituency with a significant margin of 91,413 votes.
Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu announced the appointment of Pawan Kalyan as the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He also revealed that Anitha Vangalapudi will serve as the Home Minister, while he himself will continue to oversee the Law and Order portfolio. A total of 24 ministers were sworn in, with 17 being new to the cabinet, including three women. Additionally, eight ministers are from backward class (BC) communities, one is Muslim, two are from Scheduled Castes (SC), and one is from Scheduled Tribes.
Besides Naidu, 20 ministers from the TDP, three from Janasena, and one from BJP were sworn in.
P Narayana was given the Municipal Administration department, a crucial role in the development of the Amaravati capital region. The Amaravati project began in 2015 but faced delays due to a change in political leadership after the 2019 assembly elections when the YSRCP came into power.
In the recent Andhra Pradesh assembly elections, the TDP-Janasena-BJP alliance secured a landslide victory, claiming 164 out of the 175 seats. Kalyan’s party also won 21 seats in the assembly elections and two in the Lok Sabha polls, achieving a 100% success rate. The alliance also won 21 out of the 25 Lok Sabha seats in Andhra Pradesh.
On Friday, Pawan Kalyan’s official social media account hinted at him being the deputy chief minister.