N Chandrababu Naidu Returns to Andhra Pradesh Assembly as Chief Minister

N Chandrababu Naidu, the chief of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), returned to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly after more than two years. The sixteenth Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly began today, and Naidu, along with Nara Lokesh and Nandamuri Balakrishna, took oath as members.

Naidu had vowed in November 2021 that he would return to the Assembly only after becoming Chief Minister. He received a standing ovation as he arrived in the House as the Chief Minister of the state for the fourth time. TDP MLA G Butchaiah Chowdary presided over the proceedings as the Proterm Speaker. The session commenced at 9:45 am in the Assembly Hall.

Actor-politician and Janasena chief Pawan Kalyan entered the House for the first time in his 16-year-old political career as Pithapuram MLA and Deputy Chief Minister. On Wednesday, Pawan Kalyan took charge as Deputy Chief Minister and Minister of Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, Environment, Forests, Science and Technology, and Rural Water Supply.

The TDP supremo had taken oath as Andhra Chief Minister on June 12 along with his council of ministers. His party had fought the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections as well as the Lok Sabha polls in partnership with the BJP and the Janasena Party. The TDP-BJP-Janasena Party alliance registered a landslide victory in the assembly as well as parliamentary elections. TDP has 135 MLAs in the Andhra Pradesh assembly while Janasena Party has 21 and BJP eight. The opposition YSR Congress Party has 11 MLAs.