YSRCP's Buggana Rajendranath questions the AP govt's double-digit growth claim, citing falling revenues from Rs 89,500 crore to Rs 86,500 crore. He accused the TDP govt of neglecting farmers and relying on "false propaganda".
Growth Claims vs Revenue Reality
In an interview with ANI, Rajendranath termed the government's claim of around 11 per cent economic growth "surprising" and said growth in the economy should ordinarily be accompanied by an increase in state revenues. "This actually is very surprising to us because anybody who would learn or get to know from the documents or reports that are submitted by the government, by the RBI, by the CAG, will understand that this is a false claim," he said.
Rajendranath argued that state-owned tax revenues had declined rather than increased. "The reason is--as there is growth, like the AP government and Chandrababu claim--it should also be followed or supported by a growth in the revenues as well. When there is growth, growth is always followed by or accompanied with an increase in tax revenue. For example, he says there is a growth of about double-digit, which is close to 11 per cent. But when we see the financials, it shows that there's a contraction--in fact, a reduction in revenues by 3.2 per cent," he said, adding that revenues had fallen from Rs 89,500 crore in 2024-25 to Rs 86,500 crore in 2025-26. "So how can there be a double-digit growth in the economy when the revenues are falling? Very surprising," he added.
Neglect of Farmers Alleged
Questioning the government's economic performance, particularly in relation to farmers and small businesses, Rajendranath alleged that adequate procurement support was lacking. "If you look at the Telugu Desam Party government as of now, there is no proper support price given to any farm produce because there is no procurement happening. Other than paddy, where the Government of India is procuring, no other procurement is happening," he said.
Drawing a comparison with the YSRCP government led by former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Rajendranath said, "If you compare with the previous tenure of Jagan Mohan Reddy from 2019 to 2024, fruits and vegetables were also procured. During COVID-19, Jagan Mohan Reddy noticed how difficult it was for the farmers to farm. That is the reason Rajasekhara Reddy introduced free electricity, which became a national policy later. Now, almost every state in the country is not implementing it? Because, world over, farming is not economically viable or profitable unless there is government support." He further emphasised the need for support prices, crop insurance and calamity relief for farmers.
Accusations of Misinformation and Debt
On the government's claim that Andhra Pradesh's financial position is improving, Rajendranath accused the coalition government of using misinformation to discredit the previous administration. "They've used false propaganda from the beginning to discredit us for their political gains," he said, rejecting allegations that the YSRCP government had borrowed excessively.
He claimed that despite the COVID-19 pandemic and economic challenges, Andhra Pradesh recorded year-on-year growth during the YSRCP tenure. "There was a year-on-year growth of 22.6 per cent. We had COVID-19 and two years of difficulty, which the whole world faced. Even then, we grew, continuing at a 13.5 per cent growth rate... The reason why we could not avail of the borrowing space--the borrowing that we were actually entitled to--was because, between 2014 and 2019, by an oversight of the authorities who were supposed to look into this, they borrowed more than what they were entitled to," he said.
Critique of Governance Model
Further commenting on the coalition government's claim that it inherited debt exceeding Rs 10 lakh crore, Rajendranath criticised Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's governance model, calling it publicity-driven. "N Chandrababu Naidu has actually been the Chief Minister multiple times. Every time, it was a disaster. Every time, it was more about publicity," he alleged.
Rajendranath alleged that the government lacked adequate focus on agriculture despite a majority of the population depending on the sector for livelihood. "When close to 65 per cent of the people are dependent on agriculture and allied activities for their livelihoods, and you don't have the government's presence in this sector, it means that you don't have a basic understanding of governance... Hyderabad actually dropped in IT exports after Chandrababu Naidu became the Chief Minister for the first time. Hyderabad dropped from the third position to the fifth position. It is substantiated by the data from NASSCOM," Rajendranath said. (ANI)
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)