Naidu's allegations on fiscal health of YSRCP government manipulative K Govardhan Reddy

Amaravati, Jan 29 (PTI) YSRCP leader K Govardhan Reddy on Wednesday accused Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu of making false and manipulative claims about the fiscal status of Andhra Pradesh during the previous YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government to mislead people.
    Citing a Niti Aayog report, Naidu recently said that the fiscal health of Andhra Pradesh under Jagan Mohan Reddy for fiscal 2022-23 stood at the 17th position out of 18 states, beneath Bihar, Odisha, Jharkhand and others, beset by financial challenges and that it was not even in a position to service debt.
    "YSRCP strongly denounced the false and manipulative claims made by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu regarding the state's financial status. His presentation, riddled with selective comparisons and misinformation, deliberately seeks to mislead the public," said Govardhan Reddy in a press release, reacting to Naidu's presentation.
    According to the former minister, the CM Chandrababu Naidu attempted to create a distorted narrative by isolating data from a single financial year and ignoring broader fiscal realities.
    He asserted that the TDP supremo failed to acknowledge the previous government's "sustained efforts in maintaining fiscal prudence, increasing capital investments and stabilising state revenues despite unprecedented challenges".
    Disapproving Naidu's claim that capital expenditure declined under the YSRCP regime as baseless and deceptive, Govardhan Reddy said the Comptroller and Auditor General's (CAG) records show an average capital expenditure of Rs 15,633 crore between 2019 and 2024, surpassing the Rs 13,861 crore under erstwhile TDP regime between 2014 and 2019.
    "Naidu's comparison of only 2018-19 (TDP) with 2022-23 (YSRCP) conveniently ignores the fact that capital expenditure fluctuates yearly based on multiple factors, including external economic conditions," he said, and added that Naidu has also claimed that social sector investments had also plummeted. It is a desperate attempt to "deceive" the public.
    Further, the YSRCP leader accused that the erstwhile TDP government's tenure between 2014 - 2019 was characterized by 'reckless' fiscal deficit and other irregularities.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)