Amaravati, Jun 23 (IANS): Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has appointed his close aide and Rajya Sabha member V. Vijayasai Reddy as special representative of the state government in New Delhi.

According to an order issued by Chief Secretary L.V. Subrahmanyam on Saturday, Vijayasai Reddy is appointed with immediate effect. He has been assigned the rank of a cabinet minister.

He will succeed Telugu Desam Party (TDP) nominee K. Rammohan Rao, who resigned from the post after YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) stormed to power.

Earlier this month, Jagan Reddy appointed Vijayasai Reddy as the leader of YSRCP parliamentary party.

Vijayasai Reddy, who was elected to Rajya Sabha in 2016, is also the general secretary of the party.

He has been associated with the party ever since it was floated by Jagan Reddy in 2011.

In 2012, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had arrested Vijayasai Reddy, then financial advisor for Jagan Reddy's firms in quid-pro-quo cases. They spent several months in jail.

The cases relate to investments made by various companies in Jagan Reddy's firms as quid pro for favours bestowed on them during the tenure of his father Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy as Chief Minister of undivided Andhra Pradesh between 2004 and 2009.

Jagan Reddy denied the allegations and termed the cases politically motivated.