Online slugfest continues between Andhra, Karnataka IT Ministers over investments, debt

A social media war erupted between the IT Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and neighbouring Karnataka, Nara Lokesh and Priyank Kharge, over investments and debt.

In a recent post on X, Lokesh said, "They say Andhra food is spicy. Seems some of our investments are too. Some neighbours are already feeling the burn!" he said, adding that the rising 'youngest state' of India has bagged the highest investment.

By saying the highest investment, he referred to the recent $15 billion Google AI data centres investment commitment in the port city of Vizag, which was inked amid pomp and fanfare in New Delhi.

In a veiled retort on X, Priyank Kharge said, "Everyone enjoys a bit of spice in their food, but just as nutritionists recommend a balanced diet, economists too advocate a balanced budget. The neighbour's total liabilities have now ballooned to nearly Rs 10 lakh crore." According to the Congress-ruled Karnataka IT Minister, Andhra Pradesh has borrowed Rs 1.61 lakh crore in just one year under the N Chandrababu Naidu-led NDA alliance government.

Further, he highlighted that Andhra Pradesh's revenue deficit to GSDP "worsened", rising from 2.6 per cent to 3.6 per cent.

Whatever said and done, we will always be: "Neighbour's envy and Owner's pride", said Kharge, alluding to the publicity caption of an old advertisement of a TV brand.

Recently, Kharge assailed his Andhra Pradesh counterpart's attempts to woo Bengaluru-based startups and firms disgruntled over infrastructure into his state as 'desperate scavenging' and even hinted that it was a parasitic behaviour.

In the earlier round of online slugfest on micro-blogging site X, the IT Ministers of both the neighbouring states traded barbs, especially over Lokesh's attempts to woo companies, starting with BlackBuck, a logistics startup.

When Rajesh Yabaji from BlackBuck had tweeted recently that it was getting 'very very hard to continue' operating from Bellandur in Bengaluru, Lokesh swooped in to lure him to relocate to Vizag.