New Delhi. Andhra Pradesh minister Nara Lokesh has taken a jibe in a heated exchange with neighboring state Karnataka. Lokesh took Karnataka to task, questioning Bengaluru’s poor roads and infrastructure, especially when Google decided to set up its $15 billion data and AI hub in Andhra instead of Karnataka.
Lokesh quipped on Thursday, “Andhra food is spicy and so are our investments. Some neighbors are getting jealous.”
Have made statements many times
Lokesh and Karnataka Congress leaders like Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and IT Minister Priyank Kharge have been taunting each other online since September. The controversy started when Rajesh Yabaji, co-founder of a logistics company in Bengaluru’s Bellandur area, complained about long commute times and bad roads.
Lokesh immediately took advantage of the opportunity and described Visakhapatnam as a better option for investment. As more Bengaluru businessmen and residents complained about the city’s problems, Lokesh started touting Andhra as an attractive investment destination.
Google’s choice increased the bitterness
Google’s decision to invest 15 billion dollars in Andhra has given a new color to this competition. Kharge sarcastically said that Andhra had given incentives like subsidy of Rs 22,000 crore and tax exemption to woo Google.
In response, Lokesh said, “If the Karnataka government is incompetent, what can I do? Their own industrialists say that the infrastructure there is bad, there are power cuts. They should fix their own problems first.”