Today in Politics: Chandrababu Naidu to take oath as Andhra CM; Odisha to get first CM from BJP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with other party bigwigs including Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party national president J P Nadda will be in attendance as BJP’s first-ever Chief Minister in Odisha Mohan Majhi and ally Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) will be administered the oath of office and secrecy in Odisha and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

Shah, who is scheduled to arrive in Vijayawada tonight, will be meeting Naidu at his residence, NDA sources said. The TDP chief is scheduled to take oath at 11.27 am near Medha IT Park opposite Gannavaram Airport in Kesarapalli on the outskirts of Vijayawada.

Earlier during the day in separate meetings, the Telugu Desam Legislature Party and NDA partners elected Naidu as their leader.

Addressing the legislators, Naidu asserted that he is committed to developing Amaravati as the sole capital of Andhra Pradesh. “With all your cooperation, I am swearing in tomorrow (as the CM) and I would like to thank you all for that. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is coming for the swearing-in ceremony,” Naidu said.

According to Modi’s tentative schedule, he is expected to reach the venue by 10.55 am to participate in the swearing-in ceremony from 11 am to 12.30 pm. Thereafter, the PM is expected to return to the airport at 12.40 pm and take off for Bhubaneswar at 12.45 pm.

Meanwhile in Odisha, the first invitation card for the ceremony was given to Lord Jagannath in Puri, and it was delivered at the 12th-century shrine by some newly elected MLAs.

A five-member delegation led by the BJP Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal, went to Naveen Niwas, the residence of Patnaik, and formally invited him to attend the swearing-in ceremony to be held at 5 pm on Wednesday.

“Naveen Babu has