Sources said the Prime Minister invited five MPs from Andhra Pradesh over the phone on Saturday morning to join his Cabinet. The MPs, too, confirmed the same to the media.
The five MPs are Mr Chiranjeevi, Mr Kotla Jaya Surya Prakash Reddy, Mr P. Balaram Naik, Mr Sarve Satyanarayana and Ms Killi Kruparani.
The PM also called Ms Purandeswari and Mr Pallam Raju and informed them about their elevation. Ms Purandeswari went on record at Visakhapatnam on Saturday that the PM had offered her the commerce and industrial promotion portfolio. With the induction of five AP MPs, the representation from the state will go up to 11 (including Cabinet minister Jairam Ramesh who represents AP in the Rajya Sabha) from the present six.
This is the highest-ever representation of MPs from the state.