Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday occupied his office at the state Secretariat in Amaravati, to a warm welcome by senior bureaucrats and leaders of his YSRCP.
Jagan had been functioning from his residence in Tadepalli after taking oath on May 30. The chambers were redone for him, with a large portrait of his father and former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhar Reddy installed on the wall to the right of his desk.
CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy stepped into his new office at the Secretariat today, at the auspicious time of 8:39am. God bless his tenure. pic.twitter.com/myqHOlfrhs
— Andhra Pradesh CM (@AndhraPradeshCM) June 8, 2019
However, Jagan curiously has two other photos framed in his chambers. One is the manifesto of the YSRCP, while the other is his 'navaratnalu'; a list of nine welfare schemes he had made promised to implement, which widely is believed to have swept him into power.
Even on May 23, as the results of the elections were announced, Jagan had said that his first signature as Chief Minister would be to implement the 'Navaratnalu'. The two documents have been framed and kept in the CM chambers, as Jagan wants to be reminded of his promises, his staff point out.
After meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 26, Jagan had said that he would continue demanding Special Category Status (SCS) for Andhra Pradesh. "The manifesto will be followed like a Quran, Bible, Bhagavad Gita. We will live up to the trust of the people," he told reporters in New Delhi.
Chief Secretary L V Subrahmanyam, Principal Advisor to Chief Minister Ajeya Kallam and Director General of Police Gautam Sawang were among the officials who were present on Saturday as Jagan signed three files relating to enhancement of salaries of Aasha workers to Rs 10,000, construction of Anantapur Express Highway and renewal of insurance for journalists.
YSRCP stormed to power in the state last month, winning 151 seats in 175-member Andhra Pradesh Assembly. The party also won 22 out of the total 25 MP seats, emerging as the fourth largest party in the Parliament after BJP, Congress and DMK.