Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on Monday criticised the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre over its decision to deny him permission to travel to the US, alleging that the move amounted to an insult to the four crore people of the state.
Addressing a press conference after returning to Hyderabad from a three-day visit to the UK, Reddy alleged that the Centre was discriminating against Telangana and said the Congress would raise the issue in Parliament.
Reddy said Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel had been permitted to visit the US to seek investments for his state, while permission for his own proposed visit was denied.
"The BJP doesn't want any state to grow beyond a point," Reddy alleged.
He said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi would raise the issue in Parliament.
Reddy had left for the UK on August 20 as part of a planned 10-day UK-US tour aimed at promoting investments in Telangana. While the Centre cleared his UK visit, it denied political clearance for the US leg of his trip, prompting him to cut short the tour and return to Hyderabad from London on Monday.
The Ministry of External Affairs had said on Friday that political clearance was denied because the proposed programme for Reddy's US visit was not "appropriate" for the office of the chief minister.
The denial came despite Reddy's proposed US visit being part of his investment-promotion engagements. During his previous overseas visits, the Telangana government had sought to attract investments and business commitments to the state.
Reddy's remarks came after his return from the UK, where he had undertaken engagements aimed at attracting investment to Telangana.
(With PTI inputs)
