First AP cabinet meet at Vizag on June 12

Visakhapatnam/Guntur: After the swearing-in in the Vijayawada-Guntur region Sunday night, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu has decided to hold the first Cabinet meeting of the new government at Visakhapatnam.

Though the date has not been announced, sources said that the meeting is likely to be held on June 12. This would be the first time that Vizag, which is the largest city in the truncated Andhra Pradesh, will host a Cabinet meeting as Hyderabad has always been the host for such meetings.

The decision of Naidu came as a surprise to many people, but political analysts claim that it was nothing short of the expectations.

'The chief minister has already declared that he would spend half the number of days in a week in Andhra Pradesh. Amidst allegations that he was favouring Vijayawada-Guntur region in all aspects, he wanted to send positive signals to other regions that he was for the development of all regions in the state.

Hence, the decision was taken to conduct the meeting in Vizag,' said a senior Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leader in Visakhapatnam.

The TDP leaders pointed out that though the Vijayawada-Guntur region has been chosen as the temporary capital, the first meeting of Telugu Desam Legislative Party (TDLP) was held in Tirupati considering the sentiment of Chandrababu Naidu.

Now, it has been decided to hold the first Cabinet meeting in Vizag and thus all three regions are covered. Further, the local leaders argue that Vizag has a better infrastructure to hold the Cabinet meeting in the present situation as the proposed camp office buildings in Vijayawada-Guntur region are yet to be readied.

Sources said that Naidu is likely to opt for conducting the meeting at the Circuit Guest House, but the officials do not rule out the possibility of holding it at one of the guest houses belonging to the public sector industries in the city. 'We will ready the venue soon after receiving official information,' said official sources in the government.

Meanwhile, noted astrologer Ponnaloori Srinivasa Gargeya has suggested that chief minister N Chadrababu Naidu should convene his first Cabinet meeting on June 12 around 11.52 am and the first Assembly session on June 19 around 11.43 am for the well-being of the state as well as the party.

Sources said that as Naidu gives a lot of importance to astrologers including Srinivasa Gargeya, the first Cabinet meeting will be held on June 12 at Visakhapatnam.

Srinivasa Gargeya said that Chandrababu Naidu is a strong personality as per the astrology and the time he chose for oath-taking at 7.27 pm Sunday was flawless and wished that he would succeed in all his efforts and build the new Andra Pradesh state.