Hyderabad, July 20: Former Finance Minister and senior YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) leader Bugna Rajendranath has launched a sharp attack on the coalition government led by N. Chandrababu Naidu. He criticized its fiscal management, claiming that the state is currently facing the highest revenue deficit in the country, amounting to ₹60,285 crores for the fiscal year 2024-25.
In a special interview, Rajendranath disputed the government’s claims regarding the state’s financial condition. He emphasized that if you ask any common person at a bus stand or railway station in the state, you will receive a clear answer. He pointed out that the growth in the state’s tax revenue has plummeted to just 1.97 percent. As a result, Andhra Pradesh has fallen to the 22nd position nationally, lagging behind even smaller states like Sikkim and Meghalaya.
Rajendranath refuted the pre-election claims made by the ruling coalition, which suggested that the previous government led by Jagan Mohan Reddy mismanaged the economy. He asserted that official figures from the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) tell a different story.
Currently, the state is experiencing a negative growth of minus 3.22 percent in its tax revenue. Comparing this with the previous government’s performance, he noted that despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the YSRCP government maintained fiscal discipline, keeping the average fiscal deficit between 2.5 percent and 2.6 percent. He accused the current government of accumulating a debt of ₹3.4 lakh crores in just two years.
The former minister expressed disappointment over the government’s reliance on a ‘white paper’ to justify its financial claims in the assembly. He questioned the legitimacy of such a document, stating that a ‘white paper’ is merely a political statement without any legal validity. He further stated that responsible government officials are resorting to “cheap tactics” by presenting inconsistent figures both inside and outside the house.
Rajendranath elaborated that during the YSRCP’s five-year term, the total debt was approximately ₹3.3 lakh crores, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.5 percent—significantly lower than the 22.6 percent CAGR recorded during the TDP’s tenure from 2014 to 2019.
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