Indian tech hub Hyderabad names road after Donald Trump, drawing criticism from Modi’s party
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- Hyderabad's Congress-led government renamed a road "Donald Trump Avenue" on June 23 in the Telangana state capital, on a stretch adjoining the US consulate and offices of Microsoft, Google, and Amazon.
- BJP spokesman Shehzad Poonawalla slammed the move as "hypocrisy" on June 24, asking why Congress was "giving the ultimate tribute" to Trump while Rahul Gandhi accuses him of hurting Indian interests.
- The Communist Party of India (Marxist) called the renaming "outrageous" when unveiled earlier in June and demanded its withdrawal.
- Congress defended the gesture as reflecting Hyderabad's "growing role" in the US-India partnership.
- US-India ties have frayed under Trump's second term through high tariffs on Indian goods, punishment for New Delhi's Russian oil purchases, and Washington's closer engagement with Pakistan.
- Trump and Modi met on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France and agreed to push forward their trade deal; Trump has never visited Hyderabad across his two terms, unlike predecessors Clinton and Bush.
Why it matters: The renaming crystallizes a contradiction Opposition Congress faces: it attacks Modi for not standing up to Trump on tariffs and attacks on Indian-crewed tankers during the Iran war, while its own state government honors Trump on a road beside the US consulate in India's tech capital. For BJP, the optics — a BJP spokesman calling it out within 24 hours — hand the ruling party fresh ammunition to frame Congress as soft on US pressure.
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