Senior BJP leaders, including Union Coal Minister G. Kishan Reddy and Telangana BJP president N. Ramchander Rao, rejected Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s allegation that the Centre had ‘discriminated’ against Telangana by denying him political clearance to visit the United States.Speaking on the second day of his hunger strike in support of students’ fee reimbursement at the BJP State office on Tuesday, Mr. Ramchander Rao said that the Centre’s decision was based on information that the Chief Minister was scheduled to meet “certain individuals and organisations in the US who had caused trouble to India and its people.”Pointing out that the Chief Minister had previously travelled to the US twice, besides visiting London and Singapore, without any objections from the Centre, Mr. Rao said there would have been no reason to deny clearance unless there were “concerns regarding the nature of the meetings planned during the visit”.The Chief Minister had ‘disrespected’ the people of Telangana “by travelling without presenting a proper itinerary and then blaming the Centre for the denial of clearance”, he charged and demanded that Mr. Revanth Reddy “disclose the identities of those he intended to meet in the US and explain the purpose of those meetings”. Later in the day, he ended his fast after Rajya Sabha member K. Laxman offered him lime juice.Meanwhile, addressing a separate media conference in New Delhi, Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy described the Chief Minister’s allegations as ‘baseless’ as foreign visits by CMs and Union Ministers are undertaken only after obtaining the necessary clearances.The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had informed the Chief Minister before his departure that the proposed US visit did not conform to the protocol associated with his office and therefore could not be approved. Despite this, he alleged, Mr. Revanth Reddy attempted to proceed with the visit from London.MEA regulations governing official foreign visits have existed since Independence and were not introduced by the Modi government, he said and insisted that the refusal to Mr. Revanth Reddy is a “routine administrative decision rather than a political issue”. Published - August 25, 2026 07:12 pm IST