After two days of hectic exercise, Telugu Desam P9arty president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu on Friday afternoon announced portfolios of his cabinet ministers.
Contrary to the expectations and speculations, Jana Sena Party president and Pithapuram MLA Pawan Kalyan has been given the panchayat raj and rural development portfolio, apart from, of course, the deputy chief minister status. He will also be holding the portfolios of rural water supply, environment, forests and science and technology.
Earlier, there were speculations that the Jana Sena Party chief was expecting home portfolio, but Naidu had refused to give it as a relatively soft-spoken character like Pawan Kalyan, who is also new to administration, cannot handle the pressure.
There were also reports that Pawan himself asked for panchayat raj and rural development ministry, as he has a lot of things to do for the rural masses. It will also give him some leverage to complete his film projects, sources said.
The home portfolio has been given to Payakaraopet MLA and Telugu Mahila president Vangalapudi Anitha. She will also be handling disaster management department.
Pawan’s senior colleague and Jana Sena political affairs committee chairman Nadendla Manohar has been given Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs ministry, while another Jana Sena member Kandula Durgesh has been given tourism, culture and cinematography ministry.
Bharatiya Janata Party representative in the cabinet Y Satya Kumar has been allocated the portfolio of the crucial portfolio of health, family welfare and medical education.
Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh has been given the portfolio of human resources development, Information Technology, Electronics and Communication, which he had handled in his previous stint between 2014 and 2019.
The other ministers and their portfolios are:
K Atchen Naidu: Agriculture, Cooperation, Marketing, Dairy Development.
Kollu Ravindra: Mines, Geology and Excise
Ponguru Narayana: Municipal Administration and Urban Development
Dr N Rama Naidu: Water Resources Development (Irrigation)
NMD Farooq: Minority Welfare, Law and Justice
Anam Ramnarayana Reddy: Endowments
Payyavula Kesav: Finance, Planning, Commercial Taxes and Legislative Affairs
Angani Satyaprasad: Revenue, Registration and Stamps
K Pardhasaradhi: Housing and Information and Public Relations
Dola Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy: Social Welfare, Disabled Welfare, Grama Sachivalayam and Village Volunteers
Gottipati Ravikumar: Energy
Gummadi Sadhyarani: Women and Child Welfare, ST Welfare
B C Janardhan Reddy: Roads and Buildings, Infrastructure and Investments
T G Bharat: Industries and Commerce and Food Processing
S Savitha: BC Welfare, Handlooms and Textiles
Vasamsetti Subhash: Labour and Factories
Kondapali Srinivas: MSME, SERP and NRI Empowerment
Mandipali Ramprasad Reddy: Transport, Youth and Sports
