Jagan accuses Naidu government of inflating GSDP figures

YSR Congress Party State president and former Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has launched a scathing attack on the Chandrababu Naidu-led government, accusing it of deliberately fabricating Gross State Domestic Product figures to conceal a deepening economic slowdown in Andhra Pradesh.

In a post on X on Tuesday, Mr. Jagan said that while government revenues clearly reflected economic distress, the Naidu government was hoodwinking the people by projecting inflated growth numbers to create an illusion of rapid development. He questioned the government’s claim that the State recorded a nominal GSDP growth of 11.75% in 2024–25 and was projected to grow at 10.75% in 2025–26, far above the national averages. “These are not figures released by any credible or independent agency. They are numbers manufactured in Mr. Chandrababu Naidu’s office,” he alleged.

Calling the claims economically absurd, Mr. Jagan said that genuine growth would inevitably translate into higher tax revenues. However, citing Comptroller and Auditor General data for the first nine months of the financial year, he said Andhra Pradesh’s tax revenues recorded a compounded annual growth rate of just 1.97% over the past two years. “No economist anywhere in the world can explain how a State boasting 11% GSDP growth ends up with less than 2% revenue growth, unless the growth itself is fake,” he asserted.

Mr. Jagan further pointed out that among the 23 States for which CAG data is available, Andhra Pradesh ranked 22nd in tax revenue growth, second from the bottom. While Central government gross tax revenues grew by 9.64% during the same period, Andhra Pradesh’s growth stagnated at 1.97%, he said.

He alleged that the Naidu government’s economic narrative was built entirely on false propaganda. “If Andhra Pradesh is ranking first in anything today under Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, it is only in ballooning debt, corruption, political vendetta and systematic deception of the people,” he said.