172 MLAs take oath in AP Assembly, three MLAs to be sworn in today

VIJAYAWADA: As many as 172 of the 175 legislators took the oath on the first day of the AP Assembly’s first session on Friday. Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, who became MLA for the ninth time, was the first to take the oath.

Deputy chief minister Konidela Pawan Kalyan, YSRC president and former chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and others took the oath as MLAs.

Three MLAs of the Telugu Desam did not attend the Assembly on Friday. They are G.V. Anjaneyulu, Pithani Satyanarayana and Vanamadi Venkateswara Rao alias Kondababu. They would take the oath on Saturday.

Before reaching the Assembly, TD leaders led by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, ministers and MLAs reached Venkatapalem and paid floral tributes to TD founder NTR's idol. From there, Chandrababu Naidu reached the Assembly.

At the Assembly, Naidu was welcomed by the party ministers, MLAs and leaders as also JSP chief and deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan. Pawan Kalya welcomed Naidu with a bouquet and then the two hugged each other.

Before entering the CM’s chamber in the Assembly, Naidu broke a coconut in the traidional manner. He assumed the office amidst prayers and chants by Vedic priests.

After taking oath, Naidu went to the Pro-tem Speaker's chair and exchanged pleasantries.

The other MLAs later took the oath. Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan was the second to take the oath. He said this was a memorable occasion as he entered the Assembly for the first time after being elected from the Pithapuram constituency – some 10 years after he formed the Jana Sena.

Minister Nara Lokesh, Kinjarapu Atchannaidu, Kollu Ravindra, Nadendla Manohar, P. Narayana, Vangalapudi Anitha, Satyakumar Yadav, Nimmala Ramanaidu, NMD Farook, Anam Ramanarayana Reddy, Payyavula Keshav, Anagani Satya Prasad, Kolusu Parthasarathy, Dola Balaveeranjaneyaswamy, Gottipati Ravi, Kandula Durgesh, Gummadi Sandhyarani, B.C. Janardhan Reddy, T.G. Bharat, S. Savitha, Vasamshetty Subhash, Kondapalli Srinivas and Mandipalli Ram Prasad Reddy took the oath as legislators.

After the completion of the ministers' oath-taking, YSRC chief Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy took the oath as an MLA. He went to the Pro-tem Speaker's chair and exchanged pleasantries. He did Namaskaram to the legislators including Chandrababu Naidu. The CM reciprocated the gesture.

Jagan Mohan Reddy entered the Assembly from the rear door, waited for the start of the Assembly and sat in the last benches at the start of the Assembly.

Jagan Mohan Reddy, while taking the oath, pronounced his name as ‘Jagan Mohan’ but immediately corrected it as Jagan Mohan Reddy. Former minister and senior YSRC leader Peddireddy Ramchandra Reddy took the oath in English.

All TD, BJP and JS MLAs met Chandrababu Naidu, Pawan Kalyan and Nara Lokesh after the oath-taking and thanked them. The family members of the legislators were allowed to view the oath-taking from the gallery.