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Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister A. Revanth Reddy reacted strongly to his botched United States tour amidst speculation over a proposed meeting with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, saying, “Mamdani is not an anti-social element. He is an elected Mayor of the New York City.”

When asked on his return from London, in the early hours of Monday (August 24), if the US-leg of his foreign tour had been cancelled by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) owing to his proposed meeting with Mamdani, Reddy replied: “The purpose, dates and full schedule of his visit had been shared in advance with the Ministry of External Affairs. The Indian Embassy will know and follow every programme, and would know if such an appointment is fixed.”

At a crowed news conference at the secretariat in the evening, Reddy displayed the MEA-approved format in which he had applied for clearance for his two-nation tour. As many as 25 ministers, MPs, MLAs and members of legislative council turned up on the occasion to express solidarity with him.

Reddy drew parallels with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 2015 visit to Pakistan, when Modi spontaneously diverted his flight to Lahore during his return from Afghanistan and met then-Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif. He asked, “Whom did he (Modi) take permission from?”

“While he will meet the prime minister of Pakistan, the chief minister is not allowed to tour the US. Is Pakistan our friendly country?,” he added.

He also........

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