HYDERABAD: Chief minister A Revanth Reddy on Monday hit out at the central govt for denying him permission to travel to the United States to lead an investment delegation, alleging that the decision was politically motivated, a clear case of discrimination against Telangana and amounted to an “insult to four crore people of Telangana.”Revanth, who had left on August 20 for a 10-day UK and US tour with the ‘Telangana Rising’ delegation to sign MoUs with educational and sports institutions, seek investments and invite investors for the Invest Telangana Global Summit to be held in December this year, returned to Hyderabad from London on Monday morning after his proposed US visit was cancelled.Revanth, who returned to Hyderabad on Monday after completing his UK tour for which the ministry of external affairs had granted permission, told a media conference at the secretariat that the Centre discriminated against Telangana by denying permission for his proposed US visit aimed at attracting investments and promoting education and sports under the ‘Telangana Rising 2047’ initiative.“Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led govt is obstructing development of Telangana so that Gujarat state develops,” he alleged.“My proposed travel to the US with a delegation was to attract investments in education and sports, including memorandums of understanding (MoU) with Harvard University and other American universities, and to bring in educational specialists from around the world for Telangana. I want to ask PM Narendra Modi and the Government of India why they denied me permission to travel to the US while allowing the UK visit when the purpose of visit to both UK and the US was the same?” Revanth asked.He accused Narendra Modi of acting as an ambassador of Gujarat and not as the Prime Minister of India. “Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel was permitted to travel to US and Canada and hold roadshows and invite investors under the Vibrant Gujarat banner. But Modi did not want investments to come to Telangana. They don’t want any other state to develop beyond a point. It is a case of Gujarat domination over other states. It is a politically motivated denial because I am from Telangana and the Congress party,” Revanth alleged.The CM termed it a blow to the self-respect of Telangana and said the denial insulted the state’s four crore people and reflected what he described as Gujarat’s dominance in the Centre’s priorities, pointing to the Gujarat chief minister’s travel to Canada and the US.Revanth said his visit would have benefited the downtrodden sections, including Dalits, Adivasis and Bahujan students, who stood to gain from tie-ups with educational and sports institutions abroad.“The Union government wanted to signal that investment in Telangana would be punished and that it did not want any non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state to grow beyond a point. They want only Gujarat to develop and other BJP-run states to develop. This is discrimination against Congress-run Telangana state,” he said.Stating that he along with his cabinet colleagues, MPs, MLCs, MLAs and other leaders were unanimously condemning the Centre’s denial of permission, he said the issue would be raised in Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha by AICC leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi respectively.“We are not going to tolerate this insult. It was an official tour of the chief minister. The state government had submitted complete details of the proposed tour to the ministry of external affairs. While permission was granted for UK tour, the US leg of the tour was rejected on the grounds that clearance from political angle is declined. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should explain the political reasons behind the rejection,” he demanded.“The purpose, dates and full schedule of his visit had been shared in advance with the ministry of external affairs. On whether he was scheduled to meet New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Revanth said the Indian embassy will know and follows every programme, and would know if such an appointment is fixed. Mamdani is not an anti-social element. He is an elected mayor of New York city,” Revanth said.He also drew a comparison with Modi’s 2015 visit to Pakistan, asking, “Whom did he take permission from?”“While he will meet the prime minister of Pakistan, the chief minister is now allowed to tour the US. Is Pakistan our friendly country, he asked?He alleged that the Centre’s decision was an injustice and amounted to an attempt to obstruct the state’s development. He said the issue went beyond partisan politics and violated the spirit of federalism.The chief minister said the state government would continue its efforts despite the denial and announced that the Telangana Global Summit 2026, under the ‘Invest Telangana’ initiative, would be held on December 7, 8 and 9 to attract investments in education, sports and other sectors.
