The TDP brigade is attempting to portray Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy as the reason behind Andhra Pradesh's massive debt of Rs 10 lakh crore or more. To support their claims, they initially brought in an alleged economist who was later revealed to be a mentally imbalanced person known for creating funny videos on TikTok.
Undeterred, they continued to propagate the same Rs 10 lakh crore debt statement through TDP's mouthpieces, but their efforts proved ineffective. In a desperate move, TDP cronies like Raghu Ramakrishnam Raju attempted to coax the Central Government authorities into making the statement.
However, when questioned, the Central Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman clarified that AP Government had only taken a loan of Rs 1.75 lakh crore since June 2019. Whereas Chandrababu's TDP government had taken a loan of Rs 2.25 lakh crore between 2014 and 2019.
What did Chandrababu Naidu's government do with that Rs 2.25 Lakh Crore?
During his regime, there were no "Navaratna" welfare schemes. The Amaravati farmers were not reimbursed for their pooled lands that were used for building the capital city. Development was also not visible. By the time of the 2019 election, the state treasury was almost empty. This raises a big question about how CBN's government spent such a massive amount.
In contrast, with Rs 1.75 lakh crore, Jagan Mohan Reddy's government continued to introduce welfare schemes and pay salaries to employees. There are even statistics showing that YS Jagan spent Rs 2.20 lakh crore on Navaratnas. So, apart from salaries to employees and general administrative costs, the remaining Rs 55,000 Cr were all managed without incurring additional debt. This raises the question of how such fiscal management was possible unlike CBN.
After this revelation from the Center, one would expect pro-TDP media to maintain silence as the announcement is not in their favor.
However, Venkata Krishna of ABN channel aired a program on this issue, inadvertently scoring a self-goal for TDP. He even invited Raghu Ramakrishnam Raju to the show, leading to his embarrassment.
Venkata Krishna implied that the figures from the Center suggest that Jagan Mohan Reddy's governance might be better than that of Chandrababu Naidu. Should he carry a program to say this? Even those who were unaware of this have now come to know about it through ABN's program. A meme is also under circulation in this regard.
The TDP's attempts to undermine the ruling party have once again resulted in self-defeat, indicating that they are relying more on emotions than logic. Continuing on this path will inevitably lead to TDP's downfall. If they persist in this approach, TDP's future appears bleak and doomed forever.
Usha Chowdhary
