Centre nixes US leg, clears UK
MEA says Revanth Reddy’s US programme wasn’t “appropriate to the office or purpose”. UK leg cleared. The specifics of what crossed the BJP-led Centre’s line remain undisclosed — and convenient.
The UK leg was cleared; the reason for blocking the US leg was not disclosed.
Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has scrapped the US leg of his overseas tour after the BJP-led Centre refused political clearance for America even as it waved through the UK. The MEA’s line: the proposed US programme “was not appropriate to the office held and the purpose of the visit.” It did not say which meeting or event failed the test.
Revanth was already in London when the decision surfaced. He will return to Hyderabad on 23 August instead of flying on to the US, according to reports citing his office. The UK stop was cleared; the US wasn’t. That split decision is the only detail the MEA volunteered.
According to the CMO, the trip’s purpose was to advance education and skills tie-ups — universities named in reports include Harvard, MIT, Northeastern and Virginia Tech — and he has told officials to push ahead with the US programme anyway. What exactly in that line-up the BJP-led Centre found “inappropriate” has not been put on the record. There is no published itinerary, no rejection letter, and no MEA explanation beyond the euphemism.
Congress called the denial petty politics. Telangana ministers framed it as a block on the state’s growth. The MEA spokesperson stuck to process-speak. The facts established so far are narrow: US clearance denied, UK cleared, reason described only in generalities. The Centre has not bothered to identify the offending item — just enough fog to claim a rulebook without showing the rule.