Congress MP Shashi Tharoor rejected Union Minister Kiren Rijiju’s claim that he “agreed” with his party being misogynistic. In an earlier interview, Rijiju said that in a recent post-Parliament session conversation, Tharoor had “somehow” accepted that the Congress was anti-women.
“Shashi Tharoor said Congress may be anti-women, but no woman considers Shashi Tharoor anti-women,” Rijiju said in an interview with ANI, a clip of which was widely shared online.
In the interview, Rijiju said Tharoor told him that Congress “may be anti-women”, but he himself was not viewed that way. When asked if Tharoor accepted that the Congress is anti-women, Rijiju replied: “That’s what he meant… In a way he accepted that the Congress is anti-women, and I also accepted that it is not anti-women but his party is.”
However, Tharoor clearly rejected Rijiju’s claims stating that at no point in time did he say or insinuate anything like that.
Tharoor’s clear refutation of Rijiju’s statements
Rejecting Kiren Rijiju’s claims on Tuesday, Shashi Tharoor also said that there are seven people in a photo taken after the Parliament session who can attest that the Congress MP did not say anything like that.
“That’s what he meant,” says our minister. No, sir, that’s not what I mean. “Congress can be anti-women… it has agreed in a way,” he added. “I’m sorry but I did not agree in any way.”
Tharoor was referring to a selfie he posted on April 18, showing himself, Kiren Rijiju, and several other MPs when they met for a post-adjournment meeting.
Tharoor supports Congress on support for women
Reacting to Kiren Rijiju’s remarks, Shashi Tharoor also came out in support of his party conference and praised how it stood for women’s rights and reservation under Sonia Gandhi’s presidency.
Days after the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to amend the women’s quota law failed to pass the Lok Sabha, Tharoor said he supports reservation for women but without linking it to delimitation.
Read also: Failure to pass the bill in Parliament is a loss for women, not a failure for the government: Kiren Rijiju
He even credited the Congress for bringing the bill, passing it in the Rajya Sabha when it was in power and supporting it when it was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2023. “We fully support reservation for women and are ready to implement it now – without linking it to delimitation,” Tharoor said.
