Amaravati, Dec 16 (IANS) Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan met Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday reportedly to finalise his brother K. Nagababu’s induction in the state Cabinet.
The two are understood to have discussed the portfolio to be given to Nagababu.
The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Jana Sena chiefs are also believed to have decided the date for Nagababu’s swearing-in
They also discussed the latest political situation, the final list to fill nominated posts, and other issues.
Naidu and Pawan Kalyan are also believed to have decided that they should coordinate for the victory in elections to cooperative bodies to repeat their performance in the recent elections to water users’ associations.
The Chief Minister had last week announced that Nagababu would be inducted into the Cabinet. Since he is not a member of the Assembly, he and Pawan Kalyan also discussed the plans to nominate him to the Legislative Council.
Nagababu, the elder brother of Pawan Kalyan and younger brother of megastar Chiranjeevi, is also an actor and film producer. As the General Secretary of Jana Sena, he had actively campaigned for the party in the recent elections.
As the TDP named two candidates for bye-elections to Rajya Sabha and left one seat for its alliance partner BJP, it decided to accommodate another partner Jana Sena in the Cabinet.
The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) headed by TDP has 164 MLAs in the 175-member Assembly. The TDP has 135 members while Jana Sena and BJP have 21 and eight seats, respectively.
Nagababu, also known as Nagendra Babu, will be the fourth minister from the Jana Sena. Since Naga Babu is not a member of the Assembly, the coalition is likely to nominate him to the Legislative Council to pave for his induction into the Cabinet.
Currently, Jana Sena President Pawan Kalyan, Nadendla Manohar, and Kandula Durgesh are the ministers from Jana Sena in the Naidu-led Cabinet.
The state Cabinet can have a maximum of 25 members. Naidu and 23 ministers had taken oath on June 12. The TDP had inducted three ministers from the Jana Sena and one from the BJP. One vacancy was left for the Jana Sena.
–IANS
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