As Telangana Congress chief's unparliamentary comments on Shashi Tharoor - reported by a section of the media -- incensed some of the senior leaders of the party, Mr Tharoor on Thursday night said he has received a "gracious apology" and was "happy to put the unfortunate episode behind us".
Manish Tiwari and Rajeev Arora went public with their objections on Thursday about the remarks of Revanth Reddy, who according to media reports, called the former Union minister "a donkey" and said he hoped for his expulsion from the party.
Tagging a report from the New Indian Express, Mr Tiwari tweeted, demanding that Revanth Reddy withdraw his remarks.
"Dear Mr Revanth Anumula, Dr Shashi Tharoor is a valued colleague of yours & mine. It would have been better if you would have spoken to him if you had some misgivings about a purported statement of his. Grace & Propriety demands you withdraw your words," read the tweet from Manish Tiwari.
Senior party leader Rajiv Arora condemned the remarks of Mr Reddy.
"I condemn derogatory remarks by Shri Revanth Reddy PCC president Telangana for AIPC president and senior congress MP Shashi Tharoor as reported by a section of press. He should issue a statement withdrawing his remarks," he tweeted, tagging J Geeta Reddy, the regional coordinator of the party.
Mr Reddy later withdrew the remarks and regretted any hurt that may have been caused to the MP from Kerala.
"I spoke to shri @ShashiTharoor ji to convey that I hereby withdraw the remarks and reiterate that I hold my senior colleague in the highest regard," Mr Reddy tweeted.
To this, Mr Tharoor replied, "I received a gracious call from @revanth_anumula to apologise for what was said. I accept his expression of regret & am happy to put this unfortunate episode behind us. We must work together to strengthen @INCIndia in Telengana & across the country. (sic)"
According to reports, Revanth Reddy was extremely critical of Mr Tharoor when he praised rival Telangana Rashtra Samithi's IT Minister KT Rama Rao during his recent visit to Hyderabad.
Mr Reddy apparently told reporters that both leaders belonged to the same category and fluency in English did not mean one is a knowledgeable person. He also said Mr Tharoor was proving a liability for the party.
Two years ago, Mr Tharoor was targeted by leaders of the Kerala Congress after he backed party colleague Jairam Ramesh's statement that "demonising" Prime Minister Narendra Modi all the time was "not an effective strategy".
PM Modi, Mr Tharoor had said, should be praised "whenever he says or does the right thing".
"Those who want to praise Modi should join the BJP. No Congress leader should think that he can become a minister in the BJP regime very soon by praising Modi..." party leader K Muraleedharan had said.
Last year, Kodikkunnil Suresh, the Chief Whip of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, called Mr Tharoor a "guest artist" but later retracted the remark.
"Shashi Tharoor is certainly not a politician. He came to the Congress party as a guest artist. He is still continuing in the party like a guest artist," Mr Suresh, also a Congress MP, had said after Mr Tharoor became one of the signatories of the explosive, critical letter sent to Sonia Gandhi.
