Join NDA, become Andhra CM, Ramdas Athawale tells YS Jaganmohan Reddy

HYDERABAD: Union minister of state for social justice and empowerment Ramdas Athawale said here on Saturday that if the YSR Congress joins the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), it would help its party chief YS Jaganmohan Reddy to become the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh after 2019 polls. Apart from crowning him CM, the NDA may consider granting special category status to AP, he said.

“If the BJP, Republican Party of India (RPI), of which I am the founder, and YSRCP contest the elections together, both BJP and RPI would help make Jagan to become the CM of AP,” the Union minister said.

The minister, who was in the city on Saturday to review various programmes undertaken by the ministry of social justice, told reporters that TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu had made a mistake by leaving the NDA and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have considered granting special status to AP had the TDP remained in the NDA. “Naidu can also reconsider his decision on supporting the NDA,” the minister added.

Athawale’s comments assumed significance in the wake of Naidu’s repeated charge that the YSRCP was colluding with the BJP. According to sources, Jagan and other YSRCP leaders have been in touch with the BJP leadership and he reportedly told the BJP national leadership that he would take a call on the alliance and joining the NDA at an appropriate time.

Athawale said that he had a good rapport with former chief minister of united AP YS Rajasekhara Reddy and was ready to talk to BJP national president Amit Shah on the YSRCP alliance issue if required.

On the implementation of the SC-ST Atrocities Act issue in the wake of the Supreme Court’s March 20 order, the union minister said the Centre was committed to protecting the Act and against any dilution.

The NDA government had already filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court on its stance and is ready to bring an ordinance on issues such as reservations for promotions in the government jobs, he said.

The minister said that the SC and STs were not against giving reservations to economically backward categories if the existing reservations are continued. The government can enhance the quota for inclusion of economically backward sections, he added.