The squabble between Tamil Nadu‘s ruling DMK and the opposition AIADMK – over internet giant Google investing $15 billion in a data and AI hub in Andhra Pradesh‘s Vizag, rather than in CEO Sundar Pichai‘s home state – saw a new face Tuesday morning – Andhra minister Nara Lokesh.
Lokesh, whose Telugu Desam Party helps keep the Bharatiya Janata Party in power, posted a screenshot of an NDTV report on the topic with a three word message: ‘He chose Bharat’.
And he added the Indian flag emoji for emphasis.
He chose Bharat 🇮🇳 https://t.co/hASGC1Mz8F pic.twitter.com/bcT72KeZRd
— Lokesh Nara (@naralokesh) October 21, 2025
Hours earlier AIADMK chief Edappadi Palaniswami, who is also an ally of the BJP, took aim at Chief Minister MK Stalin and his government for having failed to bring Google to the state despite a ‘strong cultural connection’ to its leadership, i.e., the fact Sundar Pichai was born in Madurai.
Senior AIADMK leader RB Udayakumar told reporters the DMK had missed a ‘historic opportunity’ to ensure the creation of the data and AI hub in the state.
READ | AIADMK Mocks MK Stalin As Google Picks Andhra For $15 Billion AI Project
“Despite Google CEO Sundar Pichai being a Tamil, the DMK government failed to invite the company to establish its AI infrastructure hub here,” he said, hitting out at the lack of proactive engagement and vision that, he claimed, led to Andhra Pradesh securing the high-value project.
Industries Minister TRB Raaja responded for the DMK, pointing out the state is to receive a much larger investment – around Rs 15,000 crore – from Foxconn, the Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturer known for making Apple devices, like iPhones.
Lokesh’s three-word ‘burn’, meanwhile isn’t the first ‘victory march’ on X by the TDP leader.
READ | After $15 Billion Google ‘Win’, Nara Lokesh ‘Burns’ Karnataka In Investment Row
Last week, after Google confirmed the investment, he went to X and posted ‘Karnataka is feeling the burn!’ amid a fierce row with that state’s IT Minister, Priyank Kharge, who was among senior Congress leaders attacking Lokesh and the TDP for trying to poach businesses and investors.
READ | ‘Blackmail’ Or ‘Inefficient’? Karnataka, Andhra Spar Over Potholes, Investment
The backdrop for that attack was comments by a Bengaluru-based business owner, Rajesh Yabaji, about relocating his office because of traffic jams and potholed roads. Lokesh had offered Vizag as an alternative, prompting Kharge’s ‘desperate scavenging…’ jibe.
Kharge then spoke of offers of Rs 22,000 crore in freebies, including tax and utilities waivers to court Google. Lokesh offered a pithy response. “If they (the Karnataka government) are inefficient, what can I do? Their own industrialists say infrastructure is bad… they should first fix those problems,” he said.
Apart from Google, the states have also sparred over a tweet by Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw; she said on X a Chinese colleague asked her “why are the roads (in Bengaluru) so bad… why is there so much garbage… Doesn’t the government want to support investment?”
Her tweet – and residents writing to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah threatening to stop paying property tax unless the city’s ‘killer potholes’ and crumbling infrastructure are repaired – led to a fresh row.
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