Even our rivals admit it: AP Minister praises DMK government as 'clean and professional' on investments
Andhra Pradesh Minister Praises DMK-Era Investment Process; TN Minister Alleges Corruption Cost Projects
AP minister Nara Lokesh praised the previous DMK government's investment process — confirmed from his own verified post — while TN Industries Minister S Keerthana alleged DMK-era corruption cost the state 25 projects worth ₹3.3 lakh crore, a figure that traces to no published data.
What actually happened
- Andhra Pradesh IT Minister Nara Lokesh, at The Indian Express Adda (June 23, 2026), said AP and the previous DMK government in Tamil Nadu "competed fiercely for investments — won some, lost some." (Confirmed verbatim from his verified X account.)
- Lokesh added: "I never heard an investor complain of being asked for money by the government," crediting the DMK administration. ("Clean and professional" is the DMK post's paraphrase.) The praise is primary-sourced — his own post (~4,818 likes, with video) — not a DMK fabrication. Caveat: Lokesh is a TDP (NDA) rival and the clip is being circulated by DMK accounts.
- TN Industries Minister S Keerthana (TVK govt) made the charge at a Virudhunagar government event. Her actual words: in the previous 5 years of DMK rule, companies were harassed with commission demands of "23% to 24%" per project stage, so 25 leading companies were "driven out" to neighbouring states — costing Tamil Nadu ₹3.3 lakh crore in investment and jobs for ~2 lakh people. (Verbatim figure is ~2 lakh jobs; the "2.03 lakh" in the DMK-circulated post is more precise than she actually said.)
- Keerthana said she "has all the evidence" and will table it in the upcoming assembly session — but no dataset, itemised project list, or document has been released. The rest of her statement was political rhetoric ("zero-corruption model," "destroyed the DMK's 50-year empire in 30 days," "tender mafia"), and the claim was carried only by Tamil-language outlets, not national wires.
- Partial anchor: a few projects did move from TN to Andhra in 2025–26 (Mazagon Dock shipyard, Hwaseung footwear ~₹1,720 cr, a DRDO-linked unit) — but causation is disputed and they fall far short of ₹3.3 lakh crore.
- Counter-context: DMK leaders (T.R.B. Rajaa, Thangam Thennarasu) reject the claim, and TN's DMK-era investment record is independently corroborated at roughly ₹9.74 lakh crore and ~31 lakh jobs over three years.
Why it matters
- The two claims sit at opposite ends of the evidence scale: Lokesh's praise is primary-sourced and verifiable; Keerthana's ₹3.3 lakh crore / ~2 lakh jobs is a round number she says she can prove but has not yet produced any data for.
- The "lost investment" framing is undercut by TN's own corroborated DMK-era record (~₹9.74 lakh crore, ~31 lakh jobs) — losing a few projects to neighbouring states is real, but it is not the ₹3.3 lakh-crore collapse alleged.
- This is a live two-way fight (TVK government vs DMK opposition); both numbers are ammunition. Treat the unsourced figure as a claim to be tabled with evidence — which she herself has promised to do — not a fact.