Hyderabad: After Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was denied permission to travel to the US, Congress leaders criticised the Centre, saying that it was handing out permissions selectively and hindering southern states from prospering.
The Telangana CM had planned to undertake a 10-day visit to the UK and the US.
Following the denial of permission, he decided to return to Hyderabad from London on August 23.
While speaking to reporters at his residence in Kalaburagi on Saturday, August 22, All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief Mallikarjun Kharge said that a vast diaspora of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) from both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh resides in the United States, and for this reason, it is important for the Chief Ministers to visit and identify potential avenues for capital investment.
“Denying travel permission in such a manner is deeply unfair. When foreign investment enters a state, it benefits the state, strengthens the nation, and creates employment opportunities. The Central Government is deliberately blocking these efforts, operating under the mindset that all investments should be routed exclusively through it rather than allowing direct regional engagement. This approach is fundamentally wrong, and I strongly condemn it,” he said.
Karnataka’s Minister of Home Affairs Priyank Kharge alleged that the Centre was batting only for “Viksit Gujarat” and “arm-twisting every investment towards BJP-ruled states”.
“Denying Telangana Chief Minister @revanth_anumula garu political clearance for his official US visit is becoming part of a disturbing pattern in how the Centre treats southern states. The MEA’s explanation that the programme was “not appropriate” is shameful. What exactly is inappropriate? Visiting leading universities and signing MoUs for your state? Then what is appropriate? Arm-twisting every investment, institution and collaboration towards Gujarat and other BJP-ruled states?” he stated in a post on X.
He recalled that his official US delegation was denied clearance last year, only for the same itinerary to be approved once his name was removed.
“The Centre is merely paying lip service to cooperative federalism while treating southern states as second-in-line stakeholders. The Ministry of External Affairs haven’t even replied to why I was denied permissions earlier. MoShah’s agenda has always been clear: Viksit Gujarat, not Viksit Bharat.”
On Sunday, August 23, CM Revanth thanked Mallikarjun Kharge and other party leaders for supporting him after the Centre denied him permission to travel to the US.
Reddy, in a post on ‘X’, said : “My deepest gratitude for the strong support from our leader and Congress party national president, Shri Mallikarjun Kharge ji @kharge on the issue of the Centre denying me permission to travel to the USA. I am very thankful to my party, all the leaders and people across the country who supported in this issue in national interest.”
Reddy said he has concluded all his meetings and scheduled events in London.
“I am grateful for the overwhelming support that I have received in past three days. In a few hours, I will be taking a flight back home to Hyderabad instead of proceeding to Boston as per original schedule, after the MEA (Central Govt) denied permission for my USA tour for political reasons,” the Telangana CM said.
CM Reddy was denied political clearance for his planned trip to the US because the proposed programme for the visit was not “appropriate”, the Ministry of External Affairs said on Friday.
The remarks came after Reddy’s office said the CM had been forced to cancel his visit to the US after the MEA declined permission for the travel.
During the planned US trip, Reddy was to visit the campuses of Harvard University, MIT and other institutions.
Telangana BJP president N Ramchander Rao on Saturday said CM Reddy should answer the people over media reports that he had sought to meet New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani during his now-cancelled US visit.
CMO sources, however, said a meeting with Mamdani was not part of the CM’s proposed itinerary in the US.
(With inputs from PTI)
