YSRCP accepts TDP’s debate challenge on state debt: Buggana ready for open discussion

Tadepalli, Dec 15: The YSR Congress Party has formally accepted the challenge thrown by senior TDP leader Yanamala Ramakrishnudu for an open debate on Andhra Pradesh’s mounting state debt, with former Finance Minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy ready to participate, YSRCP State Official Spokesperson Karamuri Venkata Reddy announced while addressing the media at the party’s central office. 
He said Yanamala must now specify the date and venue for the debate. Karamuri stated that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, who promised wealth creation and comprehensive development before the elections, has instead pushed the state into a debt trap within just 18 months, borrowing recklessly by mortgaging the future of coming generations. He stated that under the TDP-led coalition, the state has incurred Rs. 2,66,175 crore in debt so far, Rs. 1,54,850 crore within the budget, Rs. 71,295 crore through off-budget corporate borrowings, and about Rs. 40,000 crore in the name of Amaravati, and that this figure will cross Rs. 2.80 lakh crore once additional borrowings through the Beverages Corporation and Amaravati are fully accounted for. 
This translates into an average borrowing of Rs. 502 crore per day or Rs. 21 crore per hour, despite the absence of any major welfare or development schemes. He questioned where this massive borrowed money is being spent and why record-level loans are being raised while all welfare schemes have been dismantled. Karamuri also raised serious questions over commissions, pointing out that Rs. 150 crore was paid as commission on Rs. 9,000 crore raised by mortgaging mineral assets worth Rs. 1.90 lakh crore through APMDC, and that another Rs. 82 crore is being paid as 1.5% commission on Beverages Corporation bonds, demanding clarity on who is benefiting from these commissions. 
Recalling the previous YSRCP government’s tenure, he said that despite two years of the COVID-19 crisis, no welfare scheme was stopped and total borrowings over five years stood at Rs. 3.32 lakh crore, a fact acknowledged by the current Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav in the Assembly. He accused the TDP of having run a vicious propaganda campaign back then, falsely alleging borrowings of Rs. 10–14 lakh crore, and questioned the silence of the same media and leaders like Pawan Kalyan today. 
Reiterating readiness for a transparent public debate, Karamuri challenged Yanamala to reconcile his allegations with the figures officially presented by his own party’s Finance Minister in the Assembly, asking whether the Assembly statements should now be treated as false.