Hyderabad, August 24: Returning to Hyderabad after cutting short his overseas tour following the Ministry of External Affairs’ refusal to grant political clearance for his scheduled US leg, Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy launched an unsparing offensive against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Government, terming the decision an “insult to Telangana” and a direct attack on the state’s self-respect.
Accusations of Dictatorial Governance and Regional Discrimination
Addressing a press conference in Hyderabad, Revanth Reddy accused the Centre of abandoning constitutional norms and operating in an autocratic manner to penalize non-BJP-ruled states.
Framing the denial around explicit partisan and geographic lines, the Chief Minister asserted that the decision stemmed purely from political hostility. “The math behind this decision is plain: I belong to the Congress and I belong to Telangana,” Revanth Reddy declared. He charged Prime Minister Narendra Modi with functioning as a representative and ambassador for Gujarat rather than maintaining neutral federal governance, alleging an intentional effort to prevent non-BJP-ruled states from growing economically.
Exposing Selective Approvals: Gujarat vs. Telangana
The Chief Minister highlighted an explicit double standard by contrasting the rejection of his delegation’s trip with the multi-nation tour approved for Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel to promote the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit.
Revanth Reddy questioned why the Gujarat Chief Minister was granted seamless approval to conduct investment roadshows in the U.S. and Canada, while Telangana’s Chief Minister was blocked from executing key institutional agreements under the Telangana Rising 2047 framework. He emphasized that the proposed visit aimed to sign academic MoUs with global institutions, including Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Northeastern University, and Virginia Tech. Suppressing these partnerships, he added, directly deprives students from Dalit, Adivasi, and Bahujan communities of international higher education and athletic development opportunities.
Hostile Signal to Global Investors and Foreign Policy Dig
Revanth Reddy claimed the Union Government’s refusal was designed to send a deterrent signal to global business networks that placing capital in Telangana would invite central friction, asserting that the central leadership “does not want any state to grow beyond a point.”
Taking a direct swipe at the Prime Minister’s foreign policy record, Revanth Reddy referenced Narendra Modi’s unscheduled 2015 visit to Lahore, asking, “Modi went to Pakistan—whose permission did he take?” Affirming that the Congress leadership would raise this administrative overreach in Parliament, Revanth Reddy declared that Telangana would resist central hegemony and continue pursuing its development goals independently.
