Telangana CM Revanth attacks Modi over denial of US visit, alleges ‘ political discrimination’
Hyderabad, Aug 24 (TNT): Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP-led Centre over the denial of political clearance for his proposed US visit, alleging that the decision was aimed at obstructing Telangana’s efforts to attract investments and was against the federal spirit.
Addressing a press conference at the State Secretariat after returning from the UK, Revanth demanded that Modi disclose the “political reasons” behind the rejection of his US tour and accused the Prime Minister of acting as a leader of Gujarat rather than as the head of the Union.
The CM questioned the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) decision to clear his UK visit but deny permission for the US leg of the tour.
He said the Telangana government had furnished all details of the proposed visit to the Centre.
The MEA had said political clearance for the US visit was denied because the programme proposed was not considered appropriate to the office held and the purpose of the visit, while clearance was granted for the UK leg.
The Chief Minister, however, alleged that the Centre’s decision was politically motivated and pointed to the permission granted to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel for an overseas investment promotion tour.
Revanth said the Gujarat Chief Minister had been permitted to visit the US and Canada for investment-related “Vibrant Gujarat” programmes, while Telangana’s proposed US tour under the ‘Telangana Rising 2047’ initiative was blocked.
He alleged that this amounted to ‘discrimination against Telangana’ and an “insult” to its four crore people.
The Chief Minister alleged that the Centre feared Telangana could overtake Gujarat in attracting investments and said blocking an elected Chief Minister from undertaking an investment promotion tour amounted to obstructing the state’s development.
The political confrontation over the visit comes after Revanth’s proposed 10-day UK-US tour was curtailed following the denial of US clearance.
He had left for the UK on August 20 and was scheduled to travel to Boston and New York, but returned to Hyderabad instead.
The US leg was planned to focus on education, technology, skills and investment promotion, with proposed engagements with institutions including Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University and Virginia Tech.
The Chief Minister subsequently instructed the Telangana delegation to continue with the US programme and pursue the proposed MoUs despite his absence.
The controversy has also acquired an additional political dimension over a tentative meeting with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani that appeared in an itinerary accessed by the media.
The Telangana Chief Minister’s Office described the proposed meeting as tentative and said no official communication had been exchanged with the Mayor’s office.
Revanth said political and ideological differences between parties should not affect Centre-state relations, particularly when issues concerning investment, education and employment were involved.
He said Telangana MPs would raise the issue in Parliament and accused the Centre of attempting to stall the state’s progress.
The Chief Minister said the denial of his US visit would not affect the state’s investment drive and announced that Telangana would continue preparations for the Telangana Global Summit 2026, scheduled to be held on December 8 and 9 under the aegis of Invest Telangana.
Reddy also hit out at BJP leaders for what he termed personal and false allegations over his proposed US tour.
He said the issue should be viewed as one concerning the relationship between an elected state government and the Union government rather than as a partisan political dispute.
TNT TS
