AP has lowest per capita income in South India, says BJP

Vijayawada: Expressing concern over the deteriorating economic condition of the state Andhra Pradesh BJP chief official spokesperson Lanka Dinakar said that the state government’s loans mounted to Rs 13.5 lakh crore and there is no match between the income and expenditure of the common people.

He lamented that Andhra Pradesh has the lowest per capita income in South India compared to other states like Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Kerala.

Addressing the media at the state party office here on Tuesday, the BJP chief official spokesperson said people’s ‘income is dull and debts are full’ under the rule of YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. He said that there are no new industries coming, instead existing industries are moving away from the state under the YSRCP rule, which is one of the prime reasons for fall in people’s income. Driving home the message of lowest per capita income in AP in South India, he said while per capita income in AP is Rs 2.19 lakh, it is Rs 2.33 lakh in Kerala, Rs 3.12 lakh in Telangana, Rs 3.01 lakh in Karnataka and Rs 2.75 lakh in Tamil Nadu.

He said there are very few opportunities for people in Andhra Pradesh to generate additional income in alternative ways in the state. Under Jagan Mohan Reddy’s rule, people are experiencing lack of employment and other opportunities to earn their livelihood and are struggling to run the households. He regretted that the income of common people is not sufficient to meet the expenses, leading to increasing debts and poor financial condition of common people in the state. He further said many families are unable to save or buy movable or immovable property, and ‘development is nil’.

The BJP leader said the main reason for poor income is there are no new industries and exodus of existing industries from Andhra Pradesh. Petrol and diesel prices in AP are high compared to the other states and payment of power bills is also causing big problem to the common people. He expressed concern over increasing government loans of up to Rs 13.5 lakh crore and every person in the state is now burdened with a debt of Rs 2 lakh per head.

He said educated youth are not getting jobs suitable for their qualification. He said inflation is also high in AP compared to other south Indian states as per the RBI. He said inflation rate is 7.6 per cent in Andhra Pradesh, 6 per cent in Tamil Nadu, 5.5 per cent in Karnataka and 5.8 per cent in Kerala.

Dinakar said power tariff was increased eight times in AP and common people are facing difficulties to pay the power bills. He said future of Andhra Pradesh will be uncertain in Jagan Mohan Reddy’s rule and underlined the need to defeat the YSRCP in the Assembly elections.