Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Sunday expanded his Cabinet, inducting his son, Nara Lokesh, along with 10 others.
These include four members who were elected on the YSR CP but switched over to the Naidu's TDP camp.
Governor ESL Narasimhan administered oath of office and secrecy at a function on the lawns of the new Assembly building complex at Velagapudi in Amaravati close to the banks of river Krishna.
Following this, Naidu heads a 26-member Cabinet. The new ministers inducted in the cabinet include Kimidi Kala Venkata Rao, Nara Lokesh, Pitani Satyanarayana, Nakka Anandbabu, Somireddy Chandramohan Reddy, KS Jawahar, N Amarnath Reddy, Kalva Srinivas, Venkata Sujaykrishna Ranga Rao and Bhuma Akhila Priya.
He dropped five ministers and inducted 11.
Naidu sought the resignations of five ministers who have now been replaced at a cabinet meet on Saturday night. The Cabinet reshuffle expansion has been in the consideration for the past several months. The recent elections to the MLCs, where Nara Lokesh was elected, has enabled Naidu to induct his son into the cabinet.
The resignations of ministers Palle Raghunatha Reddy, Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy,Peethala Sujatha, Ravela Kishore Babu and Kimidi Mrinalini have been forwarded to Governor ESL Narasimhan.
Venkata Sujayakrishna Ranga Rao, Bhuma Akhila Priya, N Amarnath Reddy, and Ch Adinarayana Reddy, who were all elected as YSRCP members in 2014, were accommodated in the cabinet expansion, much to the discomfort of TDP cadres.
This reshuffle and expansion of the Cabinet is the first one after it was sworn-in on June 8, 2014. The cabinet expansion has been carried out with an eye on the 2019 elections.
After completion of swearing in ceremony the new ministers participated in a group photo session.
The family members of former chief minister and TDP founder NT Ramara Rao including Naidu's wife Bhuvaneswari, Lokesh’s wife Brahmani, Balakrishna, and a large number of people attended the ceremony.
Bojjala Gopalakrishna, former AP forest minister, who represents Srikalahasthi constituency, and was dropped from the Cabinet resigned from the post of MLA unhappy over being sidelined.