In wake of criticism over the state’s alleged excess borrowing, the Andhra Pradesh government on Wednesday accused “vested interests” of carrying out a “misinformation campaign”.

“This is essentially to tarnish the image of the state and thereby cripple the state financially to reap political gains,” an official statement said.

According to the YSRCP government, attempts are being made to create widespread concern amongst the Reserve Bank of India, the Central government, banks and financial institutions, Parliament and the public.

“Did all the liabilities of AP government rise exclusively by the actions of the current government.

“Absolutely not! The erstwhile state of AP was bifurcated in 2014 and this has resulted in the economic deprivation of the state of AP,” it said in the statement.

The government said per capita revenue of Rs 8,979 for Andhra, compared to Telangana’s Rs 15,454 at the end of the first full financial year post bifurcation in 2015-16, is telling of the southern state’s distress.

“Further, all the commitments made to the state on the occasion of the bifurcation have not yet been fulfilled,” it noted.

It pointed a finger at the alleged extravagance of the previous Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government.

“Added to this problem, the misgovernance and expenditure profligacy of the TDP government has resulted in the undue swelling of the liabilities of the state of AP,” it claimed

It said the combined debt of united Andhra Pradesh assigned to the successor state at the time of bifurcation was Rs 97,123 crore, which rose to Rs 1.2 lakh crore on adding the public account share.

“The same has over the five years (2014-19) increased to Rs 2.68 lakh crore. The story does not end here,” it added.

On Monday, BJP Rajya Sabha member G.V.L. Narasimha Rao said he met Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and discussed the “excessive borrowing” by the state government in violation of financial norms.