Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the NDA-led Union government over the denial of permission for his US visit, alleging that it was an insult to the 40 million people of Telangana and deliberate discrimination against the state.
He announced that the state government would organise an investment summit in Future City in December, where investment opportunities in Hyderabad and Telangana would be showcased to potential investors. He alleged that the Centre’s decision aimed to prevent investments in Telangana and divert them to Gujarat. “Denial of permission to the Telangana chief minister is not an insult to Revanth Reddy as an individual. “We clearly mentioned that I would meet prominent universities and investors in the US to promote education, sports and investments in Telangana. There was nothing secret about my foreign tour. “Why was permission granted for the UK visit but the US visit was stopped? What does ‘political reason’ mean? Prime Minister Narendra Modi should give a clarification. Is the reason that I am the chief minister of Telangana or that I am a Congress chief minister?” he asked.
It is an insult and rejection of four crore (40 million) people of Telangana,” he said.
The chief minister said his proposed visits to the UK and the US were submitted to the external affairs ministry with relevant details and schedules. We submitted the entire schedule to the Union ministry of external affairs,” he said. However, the CM said the ministry informed him that permission for the US visit was denied for political reasons. Revanth said that when a CM travels abroad, Indian diplomatic representatives remain involved in the programme, and Indian missions monitor the official engagements.
There was no immediate response from the government on Revanth Reddy’s statements.
However, state BJP chief N Ramachander Rao on Saturday said the Centre was right in denying permission for Revanth Reddy’s US visit, as the trip was aimed at meeting individuals having “anti-India” views, questioning the CM’s plan to meet Mamdani. “Revanth Reddy owes an explanation why he wanted to meet a person who had adopted controversial positions towards India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” Rao asked.
