CHANDRABABU TAKING OATH TOMORROW

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N Chandrababu Naidu will be sworn in as the first Chief Minister of new Andhra Pradesh at a grand function tomorrow. Governor E S L Narasimhan will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Chandrababu at a public function to be held at Nagarjuna Nagar between Vijayawada and Guntur at 7.27 PM. Some Cabinet ministers will also be sworn-in, but their exact number is not known yet. A host of dignitaries, including 15 Union ministers, six Chief Ministers of various states, film stars and veteran BJP leaders like L K Advani and Murali Manohar Joshi, besides chief ministers of Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Punjab and Goa are expected to attend, sources said. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister's attendance is not confirmed yet, according to Chief Secretary I Y R Krishna Rao and Director General of Police J V Ramudu. Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao and YSR Congress president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy will not be attending the swearing-in though Chandrababu has extended personal invitations to them. Soon after taking oath, Chandrababu will sign a file relating to waiver of crop loans to farmers and also loans to women self-help groups. Modalities for the waiver will, however, be worked out subsequently. Chandrababu had been talking about waiving off the crop loans in the campaigning. He may also sign a second file ordering closure of all "belt shops" (unauthorised liquor vends in villages) across the state, TDP sources said. The "NTR Sujala", the scheme for supply of safe drinking water to rural habitations, is also likely to be cleared on the occasion. It is also expected that Chandrababu may also announce the location of the Capital for the new state, though Hyderabad will be the "common capital" for Telangana and AP for ten years. 
A strong police force of 10,000 personnel is being deployed for security for the as a crowd of over five lakh people, including about 10,000 VVIPs and VIPs, is expected. State Chief Secretary I Y R Krishna Rao, DGP J V Ramudu and top IAS and IPS officials are personally monitoring the security and other arrangements at the venue as it is a state function. "Foolproof arrangements have been made for the event," they said. Since the venue abuts the busy Chennai-Kolkata National Highway, special arrangements are being made to ensure there is no traffic disruption.