HYDERABAD: Defending the Centre’s decision to deny permission for Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s tour of the US Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy said that the trip was planned at the last minute and that the Ministry of External Affairs informed the CM that “the tour was not in keeping with the stature of the office he holds”.
Stating that several chief ministers were denied permission to travel abroad when the Congress was in power at the Centre, he said: “The present decision of the Centre is purely an administrative one and there are no politics involved in this decision.”
Addressing the media in New Delhi, Kishan said that he too was denied permission to visit Canada and Russia recently. “Several other Union ministers were also denied permission to visit foreign countries by the MEA,” he said.
Referring to Revanth’s earlier foreign tours, he said: “The chief minister was given permission to visit Harvard University in January. He also went to London to study river development projects. He was allowed to visit the city again this time.”
The Union minister, however, asked Revanth to reveal who he wanted to meet during his trip to the US.
“The chief minister should clarify if he was planning to meet pro-Pakistan politician and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani,” he said.
State BJP president N Ramchander Rao, meanwhile, rubbished Revanth’s allegation that the Centre has discriminated against Telangana by denying him political clearance to visit the US. He asked the chief minister to say if the intention behind his proposed visit was to meet anti-India forces.