N Chandrababu Naidu meets Andhra Pradesh governor, discusses government formation

HYDERABAD: Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu, who is set to become the first Chief Minister of the new post-bifurcation residual state of Andhra Pradesh, called upon Andhra Pradesh Governor E S L Narasimhan at the Raj Bhavan here today evening, sources said.

Chandrababu, along with newly-elected TDP MLAs from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, met the Governor and discussed formation of a government, sources said. He is expected to take the oath on or after June 2 when the new residual state of Andhra Pradesh would formally come into being. As promised to the people, the TDP chief would take oath in either Vijayawada or Guntur, which are in the post-bifurcation residual state of Andhra Pradesh and may also choose one of these cities to run his administration, since they are centrally located, sources said.

Though Hyderabad would continue to remain the joint capital of the residual state of Andhra Pradesh as well as Telangana for ten years after bifurcation, Chandrababu Naidu is said to be keen on running the administration from a city in the residual state.

Meanwhile, Chandrababu is scheduled to leave for New Delhi tonight to take part in a meeting of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), sources said. The TDP, which returned to the NDA after a decade, is expected to join the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre. On the other hand, BJP president Rajnath Singh rang up Telugu movie star and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan over phone this evening and invited him to attend the NDA meeting in New Delhi tomorrow, sources said.

The Jana Sena had extended its support to the TDP-BJP combine during the general elections and campaigned extensively along with Narendra Modi and Chandrababu Naidu.