Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday said that he had maintained a respectful and graceful tone in his criticism of his Kerala counterpart Pinarayi Vijayan, who he said had used "language of poor taste".
The Chief Minister was referring to Vijayan's remark, calling him "Dash mone Revantha" at a press conference. The 'dash' in local usage replaces an abusive term. "I won't respond with a rash comment to a dash comment," Revanth Reddy wrote in a letter.
Revanth Reddy added that he would continue to extend due respect to Vijayan whenever he visited Telangana.
The face-off between the two Chief Ministers began after Revanth Reddy, during his campaign in Kerala earlier, declared that Vijayan's time was over. Adapting actor Mohanlal's iconic dialogue, he paraphrased it to "Nee Po Mone Vijayan… (It's time for you to go)". Vijayan retaliated by terming Revanth Reddy "misinformed" and accused him of ridiculing Kerala and its people.