Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers List (1953-2026): Complete Chronological Guide

As of 2026, the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh is N. Chandrababu Naidu of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), who took oath for his fourth term on 12 June 2024 after the TDP-led NDA alliance won 164 of the 175 Assembly seats in the 2024 election. He succeeded Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy of the YSR Congress Party, who governed from 2019 to 2024.

The Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers list runs from October 1953, when Tanguturi Prakasam took office as the first head of the linguistically formed Andhra State, through the present tenure of N. Chandrababu Naidu, who returned for a fourth term in June 2024. Across seven decades the state has had 22 individuals serve as Chief Minister, navigated a major reorganisation in 1956 that created the larger Andhra Pradesh by merging Telangana, and undergone a second bifurcation in June 2014 that carved Telangana out into a separate state. Tracking the Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers list is therefore not merely a roll-call of names but a lens into how regional identity, party realignments, and centre-state bargaining have shaped one of India’s most politically dynamic states.

This guide covers every Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in chronological order, the party each represented, their tenure dates, and the policy or political moves they are remembered for. For aspirants preparing the Polity and Indian Polity sections of UPSC and state civil services, the Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers list is high-yield: questions on first CMs, longest tenures, presidential rule episodes, and post-bifurcation leadership recur in prelims and mains.

Andhra State and the First Chief Minister

The story begins with the Andhra movement of the 1950s, which culminated in Potti Sriramulu’s fast-unto-death in December 1952. His death pushed the central government to concede a separate Telugu-speaking state carved out of the Madras Presidency. On 1 October 1953, Andhra State came into being with Kurnool as its capital and Tanguturi Prakasam Pantulu, the freedom fighter known as Andhra Kesari, as the first Chief Minister.

Prakasam led a coalition of the Indian National Congress and the Krishikar Lok Party (KLP) but the alliance was unstable. He lost a no-confidence motion in November 1954 and was succeeded by Bezawada Gopala Reddy, who steered the state through the run-up to the States Reorganisation Act of 1956. That Act dissolved Hyderabad State and merged its Telugu-speaking Telangana districts with Andhra State to form the larger Andhra Pradesh on 1 November 1956. The capital shifted from Kurnool to Hyderabad, and Neelam Sanjiva Reddy became the first Chief Minister of the unified state.

Linguistic States and the Gentleman’s Agreement

The merger was preceded by the Gentleman’s Agreement of 1956 between Andhra and Telangana leaders, which promised safeguards on revenue, education, and employment for the Telangana region. The unfulfilled promises in that agreement would, decades later, become the political case for bifurcation.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers List: Full Chronology (1953-2026)

The table below lists every Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, the party they represented, their term in office, and the defining feature of their tenure. Note that Andhra State (1953-1956) and Andhra Pradesh (1956 onwards) are listed in a single continuous sequence because constitutionally the same entity continued, only enlarged.

Longest and Shortest Tenures in the Andhra Pradesh CM List

Kasu Brahmananda Reddy holds the record for the longest single continuous tenure in undivided Andhra Pradesh, serving from February 1964 to September 1971, more than seven years. If cumulative service is counted, N. Chandrababu Naidu is the longest-serving Chief Minister overall, with three TDP-led terms spanning 1995-2004, 2014-2019, and 2024 onwards, on track to cross 18 years in office.

The shortest tenure on the Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers list belongs to N. Bhaskara Rao, who occupied the post for exactly one month in August-September 1984. Bhaskara Rao was installed during the Nadendla Bhaskara Rao episode, when N. T. Rama Rao was in the United States for medical treatment and a faction of TDP MLAs defected with the support of Governor Ram Lal. The Centre’s role in dismissing NTR’s government became one of the most cited examples of misuse of Article 356 and was later studied by the Sarkaria Commission.

Presidential Rule Episodes

Andhra Pradesh has been under President’s Rule three times. The first imposition came in January 1973 during the Jai Andhra agitation. The second was in January 1980. The third was during the bifurcation transition between March and June 2014, when N. Kiran Kumar Reddy resigned in protest against the AP Reorganisation Act and Governor E. S. L. Narasimhan administered the state until elections.

Bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh in 2014

The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014 was passed by Parliament in February 2014 and came into force on 2 June 2014. It created Telangana as the 29th state of the Indian Union and left a residuary Andhra Pradesh. Hyderabad was designated the joint capital for ten years, after which it would belong fully to Telangana. The Act assigned 175 Assembly seats to residuary Andhra Pradesh and 119 to Telangana.

The first Chief Minister of residuary Andhra Pradesh was N. Chandrababu Naidu of the TDP, who took oath on 8 June 2014 with Amaravati earmarked as the new capital. The 2019 election delivered a sweeping mandate to Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP), which had been founded in 2011 after Jagan’s split from the Congress. Jagan won 151 of 175 seats.

Capital Question after Bifurcation

The capital question remained politically combustible. Jagan’s government attempted a three-capital model in 2020 — Visakhapatnam as executive, Amaravati as legislative, Kurnool as judicial — but the High Court struck this down in March 2022. The 2024 election returned the TDP-led NDA coalition to power and Chandrababu Naidu’s third government reaffirmed Amaravati as the sole capital.

Key Initiatives by Each Recent Chief Minister

The post-bifurcation period is examination-relevant because schemes from these governments appear frequently in current-affairs questions.

N. Chandrababu Naidu (2014-2019)

Pushed the Amaravati greenfield capital project on the Krishna river, leveraging Swiss-challenge urban planning. Launched the AP Fibrenet broadband programme, the Smart Pulse Survey for citizen data, and the Polavaram multi-purpose project. Withdrew from the NDA in March 2018 over Special Category Status demands.

Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy (2019-2024)

Rolled out the Navaratnalu, a nine-scheme welfare bundle: YSR Rythu Bharosa, Amma Vodi (school enrolment incentive), YSR Pension Kanuka, Aarogyasri health cover, YSR Cheyutha for women, Jagananna Vidya Deevena fee reimbursement, Jagananna Vasathi Deevena hostel support, Vahana Mitra for auto drivers, and YSR Matsyakara Bharosa for fishermen. Created 13 new districts in April 2022, raising the count to 26.

N. Chandrababu Naidu (2024-present)

The third TDP-led government has emphasised investment-led growth. Major announcements include reviving Amaravati construction, the Super Six welfare promises including free bus travel for women and Rs 15,000 per student per year, and partnership with the Centre on data-centre and semiconductor clusters in the Visakhapatnam-Chennai industrial corridor.

Andhra Pradesh CMs Who Became National Figures

Three names from the Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers list went on to occupy the highest national offices. Neelam Sanjiva Reddy, who served as CM twice in the 1950s and 1960s, was elected the sixth President of India in 1977. P. V. Narasimha Rao, CM in 1971-73, served as Prime Minister of India from 1991 to 1996 and is credited with launching the 1991 LPG economic reforms. N. T. Rama Rao, while not occupying a national office, was instrumental in forming the National Front coalition that defeated the Congress in 1989.

Party-Wise Tally in the Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers List

The Congress dominated until 1983, the TDP and Congress alternated through the 1980s and 1990s, and the post-bifurcation phase has seen TDP-YSRCP polarisation with no Congress CM since 2014.

How the AP CM List Connects to UPSC Syllabus

The Andhra Pradesh Chief Ministers list maps onto multiple General Studies topics. GS Paper II covers the federalism framework and centre-state relations exemplified by the 1984 NTR dismissal and the 2014 bifurcation. GS Paper I touches the linguistic reorganisation of states. The Sixth Schedule of Indian Constitution and the larger Schedules question come up alongside reorganisation discussions. The Preamble and federal structure provide the constitutional backdrop.

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