Gopalakrishna, Appalaraju Sworn In As New AP Ministers

22 Jul, 2020 13:39 IST|Sakshi Post

AMARAVATI: Ramachandrapuram MLA Chelluboina Srinivasa Venugopalakrishna and Palasa MLA Dr Sidiri Appalaraju were sworn in as new ministers in Andhra Pradesh cabinet on Wednesday, July 22.

Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan administered the oath of office and secrecy at a simple, low-key swearing-in ceremony held in Raj Bhavan in Vijayawada at 1.29 pm. The governor was flanked by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on the podium.

Only a limited number of dignitories attended the swearing-in ceremony in view of the COVID-19 situation. In another significant development, Dharmana Krishna Das, a minister in YS Jagan's cabinet, has been elevated as a deputy chief minister, as was widely expected.

Speaking before the swearing-in ceremony, Venugopalakrishna thanked Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan for giving him the opportunity to serve the people of the state as a minister. He hailed YS Jagan as a great leader, who, he said, is working for the all-round welfare of backward castes (BC) treating the entire community as his own family.

Gopalakrishna, representing Ramachandrapuram Assembly constituency in East Godavari district, belongs to the Setti Balija BC community. Incidentally, Gopalakrishna turns out to be the first ever leader from the Setti Balija community to be elevated to the level of a minister in the history of Andhra Pradesh.

Dr Appalaraju, who is the other minister sworn in on Wednesday, represents Palasa Assembly constituency in Srikakulam district. A doctor by profession, Appalaraju joined YSRCP in 2017 in the presence of party president Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy. He was a state 4th ranker in SSC examinations in the unified Andhra Pradesh. 

Both Gopalakrishna and Appalaraju are incidentally first time MLAs, having been elected to the Assembly in the 2019 elections. While it is a quick rise in politics for Dr Appalaraju, Gopalakrishna has been in active politics for quite sometime before he was elected to the Assembly in 2019.

The two were rewarded with ministerial berths compensating for the exit of Mopidevi Venkataramana and Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose due to their election to Rajya Sabha. Mopidevi belongs to the fishermen community and he was replaced by Appalaraju, who also comes from the same community.

Subhash Chandra Bose, a BC leader, has been replaced by Chelluboina Srinivasa Venugopalakrishna from the same social class in East Godavari district. He has earlier served as Zilla Parishad chairman in East Godavari.

Both Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose and Mopidevi Venkataramana resigned from their posts on July 3 after being elected to the Rajya Sabha.

The governor accepted their resignations on July 20, which paved the way for the induction of the two replacements into the cabinet today.

Also, the newly-elected Rajya Sabha candidates from the Andhra Pradesh's ruling YSR Congress Party took oath today.

Alla Ayodhya Rami Reddy was administered the oath in Hindi and Pilli Subhash Chandra Bose and Mopidevi Venkataramana have taken oath in Telugu.

Back in Andhra Pradesh, speaking after the swearing-in ceremony of the two new ministers, Dharmana Krishna Das, the newly designated deputy chief minister, along with Gopalakrishna and Dr Appalaraju, expressed his gratitude to Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for his elevation. Krishna Das represents the Narsannapet Assembly constituency in Srikakulam district.


 

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