Andhra Pradesh’s 42-year-old Minister for IT, Human Resource Development and Real Time Governance, who is widely seen as the party’s future face, says giving voice to the youth has become critical to politics. He shares his views on the special intensive revision, economy, and talks about the lessons he learnt from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in a wide-ranging conversation at The Hindu MIND event, moderated by Nistula Hebbar.
In an interview with The Hindu, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had expressed apprehension over Andhra Pradesh’s financial situation, which he said went beyond the special category status demand. Two years on, how do you view the situation?
We inherited a State with a lot of debt. The previous administration couldn’t even pay salaries on time. The entire economic engine had stalled. We have been able to restart that and restore investor confidence. Nearly 25% of India’s investments have come to our State. That’s what is setting us apart, and that’s how we have been able to record growth in our tax collection. But that’s not enough. We are well on our way to executing all the projects we have signed.
We have covered some of your social media exchanges with Industry Ministers from other southern States over competition for investments. Do such things come in the way of a broader solidarity on issues such as delimitation?
