RR: US Visit Denial ‘Insult’ to T'gana

Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Monday termed the denial of permission by the Centre for his visit to the United States an ‘insult’ to the 4 crore people of Telangana.

He accused the Modi government of resorting to ‘political discrimination’ and creating an obstruction in the flow of investment and development of Telangana.

Addressing a press conference after his return from the United Kingdom, the Chief Minister slammed the Centre for denying permission to visit the United States.

Describing the Centre’s move as ‘dictatorial’, he said this had undermined the spirit of federalism.

Revanth Reddy, who was scheduled to leave for the US from the UK on August 23 for a week-long visit, said the reason for the denial of permission was clear from the Ministry of External Affairs’ communication, which says clearance from a political angle is denied.

“The political angle is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi belongs to the BJP and comes from Gujarat while I belong to the Congress party and I am from Telangana,” he said.

Citing the official correspondence from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) to the Ministry of External Affairs to seek permission for his visit to the UK and US, he said the purpose was clearly mentioned.

He said the purpose of his visit to both countries was to seek collaboration with prestigious world-class universities and sports academies, invite investments, and hold meetings with investors and strategic partners.

Stating that his government wants to promote Telangana as a premier sports and education hub, the Chief Minister said the Telangana delegation wanted to invite investors to 'Telangana Rising Global Summit 2.0' scheduled to be held in December in Hyderabad.

Revanth Reddy said their visit was part of the efforts to achieve the objectives of Telangana Rising-2047 formulated in tune with the Viksit Bharat vision of the Government of India.

He asked, when the purpose of his visit to both the UK and the US was the same, why the Centre refused permission for the US visit.

The Chief Minister claimed that this was because Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel was on a visit to the US to attract investors for Vibrant Gujarat 2047.

“The Gujarat Chief Minister was granted permission to visit the US and Canada from August 17 to 24. Permission was granted to him for investment-related visits under the 'Vibrant Gujarat' initiative. However, I was blocked when I sought to visit the US as part of the 'Telangana Rising 2047' initiative,” he said.

He remarked that Prime Minister Modi considers himself ambassador of Gujarat and does not want to see growth of other states. He alleged they were afraid of Telangana as the visit would have helped the State to attract more investments.

The Chief Minister said that denial of permission to him was not an insult to Revanth Reddy but an insult to 4 people of Telangana. “You can stop me but not my goal for the development of Telangana,” he said.

Revanth Reddy said the Congress party would not tolerate this political discrimination and would raise the issue in both Houses of the Parliament.

When asked about reports that his proposed meeting with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani could be the reason for denial of permission for his visit, he asked if Mamdani was an anti-social element. “He has been elected as mayor by the people of New York,” he said.

The Chief Minister asked whose permission Prime Minister Modi had taken to visit Pakistan and have ‘biryani’ with his friends. “PM Modi can go to Pakistan, which is not a friendly country, but we can’t go to the US,” he remarked.

The Chief Minister slammed the BJP leaders from Telangana for levelling political allegations against him over the issue. Reminding the BJP that Telangana elected eight MPs of the party, he said they should speak up for Telangana.