Minister Nara Lokesh has strongly denounced Former Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy for the increasing financial troubles of Andhra Pradesh. In Lokesh’s opinion, Jagan’s government has burdened the state with a humongous debt, with the outcome being that a whopping ₹25,000 crores have been spent on interest payments alone. Lokesh maintained that if the money were not to be used in the servicing of debt, it could have gone towards enhancing the lives of people and promoting their welfare.
Lokesh also indicated the detrimental effects of Jagan’s policies, stating that within a span of five years, the state’s debt has gone through the roof. In 2019, the interest paid by Andhra Pradesh was ₹14,155 crores. By 2024, it had risen to ₹24,944 crores—a whopping increase of ₹11,000 crores over what was paid by all the earlier chief ministers. Lokesh spoke of Jagan’s rule as a huge setback to the financial health of the state and described it as an “economic disaster.”
The criticism is not limited to Lokesh alone. Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu also criticized harshly about the worsening state finances under Jagan’s rule. Naidu held Jagan responsible for taking the state into a debt trap and pointed out that, despite this crisis, his administration is engaged in shaping economic opportunities for the people. Naidu also went on to highlight that Andhra Pradesh has managed to woo investments of more than ₹7 lakh crores in only eight months, giving hope of the economic upturn of the state.
