HYDERABAD: State BJP President N Ramchander Rao said the Ministry of External Affairs had rightly denied clearance for Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s proposed visit to the US, alleging that he planned to meet “anti-India forces”. He questioned why Revanth had planned to meet New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
In a statement, he said it was clear that the chief minister wanted to meet the “ideological gurus” of Rahul Gandhi, whom he referred to as the “Leader of Propaganda (LoP)”. He questioned why the proposed meeting with Mamdani was not included in the chief minister’s itinerary.
Rao alleged that Mamdani had recently participated in a Pakistan Day celebration in New York and said his position on India had repeatedly drawn criticism from sections of the Indian-American and Hindu communities.
“In August 2020, Mamdani was a prominent participant in a demonstration at New York’s Times Square opposing the Ram Mandir bhoomi puja in Ayodhya. Reports and footage from the event also documented anti-Hindu slogans being raised by some protesters present there,” he said.
He alleged that in 2023, ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the US, Mamdani had again publicly opposed the Prime Minister and participated in political mobilisation critical of the Indian government. His repeated criticism of Modi and remarks concerning the Gujarat riots had subsequently drawn strong criticism, Ramchander Rao said.
He also cited senior Congress leader and MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi’s criticism of Mamdani, quoting him as saying, “When Mamdani opens his mouth, Pakistan’s PR team takes the day off.” Rao further recalled Singhvi’s remark that “India does not need enemies with “allies” like Mamdani shouting fiction from New York.”