BENGALURU: Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale on Wednesday refuted the allegations made by the Congress that the Union Government was purchasing 31 predator drones from the U.S. by paying four times more than what other countries were paying for the drones.
“Even in the purchase of Rafale jets, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had accused the government of paying more. But then he later had to apologise to the Supreme Court.,” the Republican Party of India leader told reporters.
He also defended the steps taken by the Centre to resolve the ongoing turmoil in Manipur. “Union Minister Amit Shah has held an all-party meeting. I too will visit the state and try to broker peace,” he added.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Athawale said that the BJP would win 320-325 seats and the NDA would cross the 350-mark. “Narendra Modi will once again become the PM. The Opposition has been making a deliberate attempt to remove Modi,” he said.
On claims by the State Government that the Centre was not giving rice to Karnataka to implement the Anna Bhagya scheme, he said he was unaware of it and would talk to the Food Corporation of India.
“Five acres of land should be given to the landless poor to uplift them across the country. About 1 crore hectares of land can be distributed to about 20 crore people. I appeal to Siddaramaiah to set up an expert committee in this regard,” he said.