HYDERABAD: Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale, who is also the president of Republican Party of India, said YSRC chief Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy can become the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, if he joins the NDA. “If Jagan joins the NDA, he will have the support of the Republican Party of India. Further, he can also become the CM of AP with the support that we will provide from the NDA. I will also speak to PM Narendra Modi and Amit Shah about special status for AP,” said the Union minister, while addressing media here on Saturday.
Athawale, who was in Hyderabad on Saturday to review the implementation of the schemes by his ministry in the State, commented that AP Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s decision to leave the NDA was a “hasty one.” “He was seeking special status for AP and it would have been probably granted. But now that he is no longer one of us, there will be no support from my party or me. I appeal to him to join the alliance, and then we will give him all our support,” added the minister.
The Union Minister also took a dig at the AICC chief Rahul Gandhi about his mission to ‘save the Constitution of India’. He said, “The Prime Minister and others in the BJP, along with me are on the job to protect it. Instead, Gandhi must focus on strengthening his own party.”
He said the Centre did not support the recent judgement of the Supreme Court on the SC/ST Atrocities Act, where it had banned the immediate arrest of anyone accused of insulting or injuring a member from the community. “It does not have the right to banish the act. Around 27,000 cases have been reported across the country and this should not be taken lightly. We plan to bring an ordinance in the winter session on the Act,” he said.