Can Jagan Mohan Reddy save Andhra Pradesh?2Photo© dnaindia.com

Can Jagan Mohan Reddy save Andhra Pradesh?

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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy needs money-lots of it. About Rs 1 lakh crore to meet his election promises of creating rural jobs, senior citizen pensions and free healthcare, and service debt. It's a tough call. The state's debt stands at over Rs 2.25 lakh crore-almost 29 per cent of its GDP.

Jagan's Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress (YSRC) won 151 of the 175 seats in the Andhra Pradesh assembly. His priority now is to shore up the state's finances. Faced with a staggering financial crisis, allegedly due to mismanagement of funds by the earlier Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government of N. Chandrababu Naidu, Jagan is trying to set the system right.

His inheritance is a predominantly rural state with all its concomitant problems, including the absence of an established metropolis like Hyderabad as a revenue cushion and the loss of a significant portion of undivided Andhra's revenues.