First in borrowing, failed in Governance

Tadepalli, Feb 21,: YSRCP MLC Monditoka Arun Kumar strongly criticized the coalition government, for spreading blatant lies about state finances and misleading the Legislative Council regarding debt figures. Speaking at the YSR Congress Party central office, he stated that the government falsely claimed that the previous YSRCP administration left behind ₹9.74 lakh crore in debt. He pointed out that the detailed debt statement normally published in “Volume 6” of the Budget documents was deliberately omitted this year to conceal the coalition government’s own borrowings. He announced that the party would file a breach of privilege complaint against the Finance Minister and concerned officials for providing misleading information in the Council and demanded a white paper on state borrowings.
Arun Kumar stated that after state bifurcation in 2014, total debt stood at Rs. 1,40,717 crore and rose to Rs. 3,90,247 crore by 2019 under Chandrababu Naidu, reflecting borrowings of Rs. 2,49,350 crore at a CAGR of 22.63%. During the YSRCP tenure, debt increased to Rs. 7,21,917 crore, with net borrowings of Rs. 3,31,670 crore at a lower CAGR of around 13%, as reflected in CAG and budget documents. However, he stated that the present government has already borrowed Rs. 3,17,448 crore in just 20 months, nearly matching YSRCP’s five-year borrowings, without transparency about utilization or interest burden. He accused the government of violating FRBM norms, concealing off-budget borrowings, and manipulating budget disclosures while failing to explain where the funds are being spent.

On the Tirumala laddu controversy, Arun Kumar stated that Chandrababu Naidu committed sacrilege by politicizing the issue and hurting the sanctity of Lord Venkateswara’s prasadam. He demanded that the Chief Minister withdraw his statements and issue a public apology. Referring to Deputy CM Pawan Kalyan washing temple steps over alleged adulteration, he questioned why no such action was taken after the CBI SIT reportedly found no evidence of adulterated ghee. He further demanded a CBI probe into Heritage and Indapur dairies. Concluding, he said the coalition government ranks first in borrowing but has failed in governance, and warned that continued reckless borrowing over the next three years would push the state into deeper financial distress.