NEW DELHI, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Andhra Pradesh, a state in south India, on Saturday created a record of its own after newly elected Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy picked up five deputies to assist him in governing the state.
The 25-member cabinet for Andhra Pradesh was sworn-in at a ceremony held near the State Secretariat at Velagapudi in Amaravati, the state's main city.
"The newly constituted cabinet includes five deputy chief ministers -- a first for any state in India," a local government official said. "The ministers were administered oath by Governor E S L Narasimhan and Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy was also present there."
The deputies were picked out from the state's five major social groups -- Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Backward Classes (BC), minorities and Kapus.
The 46-year-old Reddy was sworn-in as chief minister on May 30. Reddy led his party YSR Congress to a huge victory in recently-held local and national elections in the state.
His party won 151 seats in 175-member Assembly and also bagged 22 out of the 25 parliamentary seats in the state, thereby virtually wiping out the rival Telugu Desam Party (TDP).
Prior to this, TDP's Chandrababu Naidu governed the state.
