Watch: Pawan Kalyan takes charge as Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister

VIDEO | Andhra Pradesh Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan assumes the charge at Camp Office. pic.twitter.com/sMp1K2Rcmk

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 19, 2024

Kalyan has also been allocated the departments of Panchayat Raj and Rural Development, Environment, Forests, and Science and Technology. Rural Water Supply also falls under Kalyan.

The 55-year-old actor-turned-politician who helped bring together the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Andhra Pradesh won for the first time from the Pithapuram Assembly constituency in Kakinada district. Written off as a political leader a year ago, Kalyan, popularly known as the “Power Star”, turned things around, helping Naidu topple the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government.

Kalyan had launched the JSP on March 14, 2014, as Andhra Pradesh awaited its bifurcation and the creation of the new Telangana state. But in the years since then, it was mostly a story of downs rather than ups. In 2014, he lent support to the TDP-BJP NDA alliance but did not contest. In 2019, his party contested and won only one seat while Kalyan himself lost from Bhimawavarm and Gajuwaka.

With PTI inputs