Chandrababu Naidu is CM, acts first on loan waivers

Nara Chandrababu Naidu, 64, took oath as the first chief minister of the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh on Sunday at 7.27 pm, thus completing the bifurcation of the state. At a function attended by lakhs of people, Governor E S L Narasimhan administered the oath of office to Naidu on the 70-acre grounds of Acharya Nagarjuna University, that falls between Vijayawada and Guntur cities. Naidu will have two deputy chief ministers. They were sworn in along with 17 other Cabinet ministers. N Chinnarajappa, MLA from Peddapuram, and K Krishna Murthy from Kurnool are likely to be the deputy CMs. Two BJP MLAs, Kamineni Srinivas and P Manikyala Rao, have been accommodated in the Cabinet. Dr P Narayana, who runs the popular Narayana Group of educational institutions, has also been made a minister. Political observers said Naidu had played a masterstroke by inducting the BJP in the ministry, ensuring that the Centre pays attention to the development of the state he leads. All districts of the state have got representation in the Cabinet except Kadapa, which is a YSR Congress Party bastion. Two MLAs each of East Godavari, West Godavari, Guntur and Anantapur, and three of Krishna district are now ministers. Keeping his election promises, the first decision of Naidu as CM was to sign a file related to waiver of crop loans and loans to women self-help groups and weavers. A committee will be constituted to frame guidelines for the loan waiver, and will have to submit its report in 45 days. Indian Express