Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will attend the swearing-in ceremony of the new Delhi Chief Minister on Thursday, February 20. Mr. Naidu is scheduled to leave for the national capital on Wednesday evening.
The oath-taking ceremony is expected to take place at Ram Leela Maidan in New Delhi. The BJP has returned to power in Delhi after 27 years, securing a landslide victory in the recently concluded Assembly elections. The party won 48 out of 70 seats, while the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), led by outgoing Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, managed to secure only 22 seats.
Mr. Naidu, a key ally of the BJP, had actively campaigned against AAP in the run-up to the elections. On the final day of campaigning, he criticized the Kejriwal-led government, stating that there was no difference between drainage water and drinking water under AAP’s rule. He further referred to the AAP administration as a “half-engine” government, dismissing its governance model as a failure.
This will not be the first swearing-in ceremony Mr. Naidu has attended in recent months. He was present at the swearing-in of Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Sarita Gangadharrao Fadnavis at Azad Maidan in Mumbai on December 5 last year. He also attended the oath-taking of Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini.
Interestingly, in the 2019 Andhra Pradesh Assembly elections, Mr. Kejriwal had campaigned in support of Mr. Naidu and his Telugu Desam Party (TDP), urging voters to back him. However, the political dynamics have since shifted, with Mr. Naidu now aligning closely with the BJP and actively opposing AAP in the Delhi polls.
Mr. Naidu’s visit to Delhi is seen as a continuation of his strengthening ties with the BJP leadership, further cementing his role in national politics.
