Union minister for social justice and empowerment Ramdas Athavale on Thursday extended open invitation to YSR Congress party president Y S Jaganmohan Reddy into the National Democratic Alliance headed by Bharatiya Janata Party.
“Since the Telugu Desam Party headed by N Chandrababu Naidu dropped out of the NDA, we invite Jaganmohan Reddy into the NDA. It is left for him whether it is before the next elections in 2019 or after that,” Athawale, who is the present of Republican Party of India, a key constituent of the NDA, told media in Vijayawada.
He said the NDA would definitely need Jagan’s support. And Narendra Modi is definitely going to come back to power again after 2019 elections, he said.
The union minister expressed regrets over Naidu pulling out of the NDA.
“He took a hasty decision. The Narendra Modi government at the Centre is keen on helping Andhra Pradesh with more funds. There is no question of doing injustice to AP,” he said.
However, he ruled out granting of special category status to AP.
“If AP is given, more states will put forth the same demand,” Athawale said.
He advised Naidu to reconsider his decision and come back into the fold of NDA.
“If Naidu doesn’t come, we have Jagan to join us,” he said.
