Panaji, Nov 13 (IANS): After a Twitter spat with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over a controversial railway project, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday, taunted a top Maharashtra government bureaucrat, making comparisons between Covid management efforts in Goa and its neighbouring state.

Speaking at a function organised in Panaji to launch a new Marathi news channel 'Goan Varta', Sawant, who was sharing a dais with Maharashtra government's Director General for Information and Public Relations DD Pandharpatte, said that public functions could be organised in Goa due to good Covid-19 management practices, unlike in Maharashtra.

"Pandharpatte saheb, one cannot organise functions (in the state) where you come from... But one can organise functions here (in Goa)," Sawant said. Pandharpatte was one of the guests of honour present at the media event.

"We have had good Covid management here. We are not asking for a pat on our back, but others should take note of the good work we have done," Sawant said.

On Thursday, Sawant had engaged in a Twitter war of words with Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal over South Western Railway's rail track doubling project in and around the protected forests in the Mollem village in South Goa.

The Goa Chief Minister also expressed hope that this Diwali was a Covid-19 free Diwali for Goa, after the state on Thursday did not report a single Covid-19 related death; a first such instance in four months.

While Kejriwal urged Sawant to listen to the voice of the people of Goa and stop the Central government from foisting the project on Goa, Sawant tauntingly responded to Kejriwal's tweet, suggesting the Delhi CM that he was an expert in creating rifts between the Centre and the states.