Priests chant hymns as Chandrababu Naidu son takes oath

Took oath in the Business Advisory Committee meeting room, reportedly on an astrologer’s advice.

Nara Lokesh Naidu, son of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, on Thursday took oath as a member of the Legislative Council at Velagapudi. Deviating from the norm of taking oath in the Council hall, Lokesh took oath in the Business Advisory Committee meeting room, reportedly on the advice of an astrologer. Priests chanted hymns as he signed the papers in the presence of Council Chairman A Chakrapani. His father walked down from the Assembly, which is adjacent to the Council, to congratulate him.

“(I was) Sworn in as MLC today in the presence of well-wishers and embarked on a new journey as a public representative. I will toil hard to live up to the immense faith reposed in me. People’s welfare and state’s development will be the top priority,’’ he said. The other 13 MLCs who were elected along with Lokesh took oath in the Council hall.

Lokesh took the oath in the BAC meeting room so that he could take blessing from the priests, sources said. Officials denied that a special ceremony was arranged for him. “He wished to take the oath here, and we facilitated it. There is no ban on it. No rules were broken or bent,’’ an official from the Legislature Secretariat said.

Lokesh is likely to be inducted in the Andhra Pradesh Cabinet in a reshuffle expected next week. A TDP general secretary, Lokesh, filed his nomination papers on March 5 for the Legislative Council under the MLAs quota. His election to the Council was unanimous, given the TDP’s strength.