Rajinikanth, Chiranjeevi among galaxy of stars at Chandrababu Naidu’s swearing in

Vijayawada, June 12 - Superstars Rajinikanth and Chiranjeevi were among the galaxy of stars who attended the swearing-in of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and his Council of Ministers, which took place at the Kesarapalli IT Park on Wednesday.

Rajinikanth, his wife Latha Rajinikanth, popular actor and TDP MLA N. Balakrishna shared the dais next to the main dais where Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Governor S. Abdul Nazeer and Chandrababu Naidu were seated.

Chiranjeevi witnessed his brother and Jana Sena leader Pawan Kalyan taking oath as a minister. Naidu’s son and Balakrishna’s son-in-law Nara Lokesh was also sworn in as a minister.

While Naidu’s wife Bhuvaneswari was seated on the main dais, his daughter-in-law Brahmini, along with grandson Devansh and other family members were present in the VIP gallery.

Chiranjeevi’s son and leading actor Ram Charan, Pawan Kalyan’s wife Konidela Lezhneva, son Akhira, brother and actor Naga Babu, Naga Babu’s daughter and actor Niharika, nephew and actor Sai Dharam Tej were also present.

Actor Pawan Kalyan, who will be next seen in ‘Hari Hara Veera Mallu’, also took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. His Janasena Party, which is in alliance with N. Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP and Bharatiya Janata Party, as part of the NDA, registered a thumping win in the Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections. The alliance secured 164 out of 175 seats. TDP won 135 seats, Janasena Party won 21, and BJP won 8 seats.

However, ‘RRR’ star Jr NTR, who is the grandson of former Chief Minister and TDP founder N. T. Rama Rao, was not seen at the event. Jr NTR had campaigned for Chandrababu Naidu in 2009 but later withdrew from political life in order to focus on his film career.

Actors Nara Rohit, Shivaji, Nikhil, director Krish and others also attended the ceremony.

After the swearing-in, PM Modi, along with Pawan Kalyan and his brother Chiranjeevi, raised their hands amid loud cheers by the crowd.

PM Modi also met Rajinikanth, Balakrishna and others on the dais.

Tamil megastar Rajinikanth, who landed in the state on Tuesday night for the Wednesday event, was dressed in a simple kurta and pyjamas.

Senior Telugu actor Nandamuri Balakrishna, who was slammed a few days ago for pushing actress Anjali during a pre-release event for her upcoming film, attended the ceremony. He met the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Ottakarathevar Panneerselvam, at the event.

Apart from the Telugu and Tamil stars, the ceremony was also attended Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the newly appointed Union Health Minister J. P. Nadda.

N. Chandrababu Naidu has been sworn-in as the Chief Minister of the state for the fourth time.

--IANS