Pawan Kalyan’s brother Naga Babu to be inducted into Andhra cabinet

Amaravati: Konidela Nagendra Babu (Naga Babu), General Secretary of the Jana Sena Party (JSP) and elder brother of Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan is set to be inducted into the state cabinet.

Telugu Desam Party (TDP) announced his inclusion, although the specific ministry he will oversee is yet to be revealed.

In the 25-member cabinet, TDP has 20 ministers; four are from the Jana Sena Party and one is from the BJP. In addition to Naga Babu, JSP ministers include Pawan Kalyan, Nadendla Manohar, and Kandula Durgesh. One position remains vacant.

In the recent elections, Naga Babu was expected to contest from the Anakapalli Parliamentary constituency, but had to step aside when the seat went to BJP as part of seat sharing arrangements.

After NDA's victory, there were rumors that Naga Babu, there were also speculations that he will be nominated for Rajya Sabha.

As Nagababu is not an MLA currently, he is required to become a member of the Legislative Assembly or Council within six months from taking oath as minister.

Naga Babu, who joined Jana Sena after its formation by his brother Pawan Kalyan, had unsuccessfully contested from the Narasapuram Lok Sabha constituency in the 2019 general election. He secured 250,289 votes. Following the TDP-Jana Sena alliance's victory in the recent elections, Naga Babu assumed the role of National General Secretary of the Jana Sena Party before his induction into the cabinet.

2 RS members nominated from TDP:

Meanwhile, TDP has nominated Beeda Masthan Rao and Sana Satish for Rajya Sabha.

R Krishnaiah, a prominent BC leader in both Telugu States, has been nominated as one of its candidates by the BJP for the by-election to Rajya Sabha.

Three RS seats had fallen vacant after YSRCP members Venkataramana Rao Mopidevi, Beedha Masthan Rao Yadav, and Ryaga Krishnaiah quit in August. Yadav and Krishnaiah's terms as Rajya Sabha members were to end on June 21, 2028, while Mopidevi was to retire on 21 June 2026.

Chandrababu Naidu-led TDP has no representation in RS. YSRCP may not contest the elections as it does not have the required numbers.

For the first time in 40 years, the TDP has no representation in the Upper House as it refrained from contesting the Rajya Sabha elections earlier this year due to a lack of sufficient MLAs. However, it is going to end soon.

The counting of votes of the by-elections is scheduled to be held on December 20.