Jaganmohan Reddy takes charge as Andhra Pradesh CM, 25 cabinet ministers sworn in

YS Jaganmohan Reddy took charge as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh at the secretariat in Amravati on Saturday, June 8. The cabinet of 25 ministers was also sworn in.

Reddy took charge at exactly 8:39 am at his new office in Block 1 of the secretariat, with a small 'pooja' performed by priests who blessed him on the occasion. The swearing-in ceremony began at 11:49 am and ESL Narsimhan, the state governor, administered the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers.

"With God's and your blessings, I will fulfil your aspirations and live up to your expectations," Reddy tweeted on the occasion.

He also took to Twitter to congratulate his cabinet.

Reddy's cabinet consists of six ministers who had previously served in his father YS Rajasekhara Reddy's cabinet. All the others are first-time ministers.

The cabinet has equal representation from all regions of Andhra Pradesh, with four ministers from North Coastal Region, six from East and West Godavari, five from Krishna and Guntur, four from Prakasam and Nellore, and six from Rayalaseema.

There are also seven ministers from backward classes communities in the cabinet, one Muslim, five from SC, one from ST, four from Kapu, four from Reddy, one Kamma, one Kshatriya and one Vaishya. However, the representation of women seems small, with only three women ministers in the cabinet.

The ministers who were sworn in include - Dharmana Krishna Das, Pamula Pushpa Srivani, Botsa Satyanarayana, M Srinivasa Rao (Avanthi Srinivas), Pilli Subhas Chandra Bose, Kurasala Kannababu, P Viswaroop, Alla Krishna Srinivas, Thaneti Vanitha, Sriranganatha Raju, Velampalli Srinivas, Kodali Srivenkateshwara Rao, Perni venkata Ramaiah, Mekathoti Sucharitha, Mopidevi Venkataramanarao, Balineni Srinivasa Reddy, Adimulapu Suresh, Anil Kumar Yadav, Mekapati Gowtham Reddy, Shaikh Amjad Basha, Peddireddy Ramchandra Reddy, K Narayanaswamy, Buggana Rajendranath Reddy, Gummanuru Jayaram and Malagundla Shankaranarayana.

The names of five Deputy Chief Ministers are also expected to be announced later in the day.

It is being speculated that the posts may be allotted to Rajanna Dora (ST Salur), Alla Nani (Eluru WG Kapu), Partha Sarathi (Yadav Penamaluru Vijayawada), M Sucharitha (SC Guntur) and Amjad Basha (Minority Kadapa).

Jagan, after taking charge signed three files regarding the enhanced payments for Asha workers, Express Highway and Journalists health scheme, marking the beginning of his chief ministership.

He also announced a 27 per cent interim relief in salaries for government employees during a brief meeting with Secretariat Employees Union but said that the move would require the cabinet's approval.