Revanth Reddy Apologises to Shashi Tharoor for Calling Him a 'Donkey'

A day after kicking up a row for calling MP Shashi Tharoor a 'donkey', the Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) chief Revanth Reddy on Thursday, 16 September, apologised to the former.

An audio clip, which went viral on social media, had Revanth lashing out at Shashi Tharoor, and even calling for his expulsion.

The TPCC chief’s comments were in response to a media question on Shashi Tharoor, who heads the parliamentary standing committee on IT, praising the TRS government.

Revanth took to Twitter to say, "I spoke to Shri Shashi Tharoor ji to convey that I hereby withdraw the remarks and reiterate that I hold my senior colleague in the highest regard. I regret any hurt that may have been caused to him by my words. We share our faith in the values and policies of the Congress Party."

He has also added "...I know he joins me in wanting Congress to win the support of the public to form the next government in Telangana."

Shashi Tharoor while accepting Revanth's apology, tweeted, "I received a gracious call from Anumula Revanth Reddy to apologise for what was said. I accept his expression of regret and am happy to put this unfortunate episode behind us. We must work together to strengthen Indian National Congress in Telangana and across the country. Onward and upward!"

During the visit of the parliamentary committee on IT led by Tharoor to Hyderabad last week, KTR had made a presentation on the state's IT initiatives. "Hugely impressive presentation by @KTRTRS &his team. I said that as with foreign policy, we need to look beyond political divides on IT policy. If @ministerktr is setting an example in Telengana that the rest of us can benefit from, we can all gain from a forward-looking IT policy," Tharoor wrote.

"Many thanks @ShashiTharoor Ji Politics can be relegated to a back burner when it comes to the interests of our nation & policy making Happy to meet & contribute to the IT standing committee under your chairmanship (sic)," KTR replied.

This apparently did not go down well with Revanth Reddy, a bitter critic of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) and his family. Revanth Reddy allegedly said that Tharoor and KTR were of the same ilk and their fluency in English did not mean that either of them was a knowledgeable person.

"As the chairman of the IT standing committee, Shashi Tharoor Ji had paid some compliments to the efforts of the Govt of Telangana recently. His colleague in parliament & PCC chief calls him a Donkey!! This is what happens when you have a 3rd rate criminal/thug leading the party," tweeted KTR, who is the son of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao.

Revanth had initially denied making the comments, instead hit out at TRS Minister KT Rama Rao and called it fake news.

"Born liar and looter @KTRTRS can't get away with hiding behind @ShashiTharoor ji and fake news. It's clear that you are trying to mislead current issues of child molestation and corruption charges against your family," the TPCC chief tweeted after KTR slammed him for his verbal attack on Tharoor.

Tharoor, however, played down the controversy, tweeting, "I am sure he was only expressing his fraternal feelings!"

After Revanth Reddy called the report fake news, KTR again took to Twitter, this time with the audio clip.

"While ***** like @revanth_anumula need not be responded to; it's important to expose filth. Here's his audio clip/comments on Tharoor. Sent to me by a reporter, I am sure if we send it to a forensic lab, it'll match his infamous #Note4Vote voice. Any comments @RahulGandhi Ji?," KTR tweeted.

Meanwhile, Telangana Congress affairs in-charge Manickom Tagore lashed out at the journalist who sent the audio clip to KTR, stating, "When Journalists record off the record conversation and send it to people in power what you will think about him / her ? Supari Journalist (sic)."

(Published in an arrangement with The News Minute)