Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu appointed Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan as his deputy even as he allocated the portfolios to his ministers. While keeping general administration department (GAD), law & order, public enterprises and all other portfolios not allocated to any minister with himself, Naidu gave Pawan panchayati raj, rural development and rural water supply, environment and forests, and science and technology.
Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh retained IT besides getting electronics. Additionally, he will handle HRD and real-time governance portfolios. Two-time MLA Vangalapudi Anitha, 40, is the new home minister.
The only BJP member in the cabinet, Satya Kumar Yadav, has been given health, family welfare, and medical education portfolios. Meanwhile, Naidu has created a separate portfolio for MSMEs and NRI empowerment.
Earlier, Naidu took oath of office as Andhra CM for the fourth time along with 24 cabinet ministers.
PM Modi led the BJP pantheon, including home minister Amit Shah and health minister and BJP president J P Nadda, at the swearing-in of their party's key ally at the Centre and the state. Pawan Kalyan, who was instrumental in forging the winning combination with TDP and BJP, also joined the cabinet.
Naidu ensured that all regions of the state were being represented in the cabinet. The mix takes into account original 13 districts of the bifurcated state before YSRCP govt of Jagan Mohan Reddy doubled that number.
The new CM balanced caste priorities by giving eight ministerial berths to representatives of backward classes. The Kamma community got five, while the Kapus received four.
