VIJAYAWADA: Nara Lokesh, son of Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, took oath as a cabinet minister at the swearing-in ceremony held at Interim Secretariat Complex in Velagapudi here on Sunday. He was inducted into the Cabinet along with 10 others.
Lokesh’s induction into the cabinet was expected after he was nominated as a member of the AP Legislative Council by the ruling Telugu Desam Party (TDP). While speculations are rife that he would hold the portfolio of panchayat raj, it is not clear what portfolio he would be given in the Cabinet.
Immediately after swearing in as minister, Lokesh took the blessings of his father and chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu as well as Governor ESL Narasimhan on stage.
Besides Lokesh, TDP Andhra Pradesh president and Etcherla MLA Kala Venkata Rao, the party politburo member and MLC Somiredddy Chandramohan Reddy, Achanta MLA Pitani Satyanarayana, Kovur MLA KS Jawahar, Vemur MLA N Anand Babu Palamaner MLA N Amarnath Reddy, Government whip and Rayadurgam MLA Kaluva Srinivasulu, were inducted into the Cabinet.
While five non-performers were shunted out, those doing good work are expected to be encouraged as the State gets ready for the 2019 Assembly elections.
Three of 21 MLAs who defected from YSRC to TDP - Sujay Krishna Ranga Rao (Bobbili, Vizianagaram), C Adinarayana Reddy (Jammalamadugu, Kadapa) and Akhila Priya (Allagadda, Kurnool) - were also given cabinet berths.
As promised to the children of former MLA Bhuma Nagi Reddy who passed away on March 12, this year, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu took upon himself the responsibility of inducting Allagadda MLA Bhuma Akhila Priya, Nagi Reddy’s daughter, into the cabinet. She is the youngest minister in the State Cabinet.