Chandrababu Naidu appointed as first CM of new Andhra Pradesh

Hyderabad: Andhra Pradesh Governor ESL Narasimhan on Thursday night appointed Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu as the first Chief Minister of the new state of Andhra Pradesh and invited him to form the government.

A delegation of TDP legislators met the Governor at Raj Bhavan in Hyderabad on Thursday afternoon and handed over a letter informing about the election of Naidu as the leader of Telugu Desam Legislature Party.

The legislators requested Narasimhan's to formally invite their leader to form the government.

On his suggestion, the TDP subsequently communicated in writing details of the swearing-in ceremony to be held at 7.27 pm on June 8 at Nagarjuna Nagar, located between Vijayawada and Guntur.

Based on this, the Governor issued a warrant appointing Naidu as the Chief Minister and inviting him to form the government.

The TDLP met in the temple-town of Tirupati late Wednesday night and unanimously elected Naidu as its leader.

Senior legislators Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, KE Krishna Murthy, Mandali Buddha Prasad, Dhulipalla Narendra and P Sujatha met Narasimhan this afternoon and informed him about the unanimous election.

"We requested the Governor to invite Chandrababu Naidu to form the government of (new) Andhra Pradesh," Yanamala later told reporters.

Elaborate arrangements are being made for the swearing-in ceremony as over five lakh people are expected to attend.

Union ministers and chief ministers of various states are expected to attend the ceremony. Naidu has sent personal invitation letters to them, and spoken to some of them over phone, TDP sources said.

Though he has personally invited the Prime Minister Narendra Modi too, there is no confirmation about his participation.

The TDP won 102 seats in the 175-member AP Assembly in the elections held last month.

An Independent, a rebel candidate of the TDP, returned to the party upon his election from Pithapuram.

Another candidate, who won from Chirala on behalf of Navodayam Party, also announced that he would be an "associate" member of the TDP in the Assembly.

The TDP is, however, yet to take a final call in his case as there is a strong opposition from within the party.