Jagan Reddy takes oath as Andhra Pradesh CM; faces debt crisis

Naveen S Garewal
Tribune News Service
Hyderabad, May 30

YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday took oath as the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.

Governor ESL Narasimhan administered him oath of office and secrecy at a public ceremony held at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium in Vijayawada.

Reddy is the second chief minister to take charge of Andhra Pradesh after the state’s bifurcation in 2014. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) was among the dignitaries present at the ceremony. 

DMK chief MK Stalin also attended the ceremony. 

Reddy will have to tackle with Andhra Pradesh’s huge debt problem amounting to Rs 2.58 lakh crore. 

Soon after taking oath, Reddy was informed by the Finance Department that the state immediately required Rs 5,000 crore to run the government. The state has reserves of only Rs 100 crore at the moment. The state has to seek an overdraft immediately to pay salaries and pensions due on June 1. 

Reddy has said he would try to obtain a “special category status” for Andhra Pradesh. 

The special category status for the state will entitle it to receive financial support from the Centre which can be used to escape the state’s debt trap. 

The presence of Telangana CM Rao, who was specially invited by Reddy, means the two states might work together to resolve the inter-state disputes.

Former Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu and KCR had developed strained relations to the extent that Naidu campaigned against KCR’s Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) during the state assembly polls in December 2018. 

TRS, however, managed to come back to power in Telangana. KCR then helped Reddy’s campaign during Andhra’s Assembly elections. Reddy managed to win 151 out of the 175 Assembly seats.

Reddy, who was the only one to be sworn in, is set to expand his cabinet later. 

Reddy takes charge nearly a decade after his father and former CM YS Rajshekhar Reddy had died in a helicopter crash.

Rain plays spoilsport

The ceremony took a hit after heavy rain lashed Vijayawada on Wednesday night. The showers left a mess at the venue. Despite the odds, frenzied supporters managed to congratuate Reddy.