The Bharatiya Janata Party government in the Centre is “anti-South Indian” and has been attempting to prevent investments in the southern states, Congress leader and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy alleged on Sunday, reported The Hindu.

“If any multinational company tries to invest in any South Indian state, there is a direct call from the PMO [Prime Minister’s Office] to threaten and take the investment away to Gujarat,” Reddy told media persons in Karnataka. “It is the spillover that we are expected to take.”

He claimed that the BJP government’s discrimination against the South is also visible in the distribution of portfolios as well as constitutional posts, according to The Hindu.

“In the BJP mindset, there is no need to give much importance to South Indian leadership,” he said. “They think nominal representation will do.”

Raising a question about the number of ministers from South India in the Cabinet, Reddy said there has been a better balance between the representation of leaders from the North and the South whenever the Congress has been in power.

“President and vice-president, Speaker or even their party presidents are all from North India,” Reddy pointed out. “Discrimination is going on and nobody from the party dares speak up. Anyone growing a little strong is sent home.”

The chief minister also said that the BJP will fail to win in southern India in the Lok Sabha polls, reported The Times of India.

“In 131 seats across five states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and the UT [Union Territory] of Lakshadweep, BJP will not get more than 20 seats,” said Reddy.

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