NewDelhi: Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju has claimed that Congress MP Shashi Tharoor indirectly admitted that the Congress party is “anti-women” in the context of the Women’s Reservation Bill not being passed in Parliament.
In an interview with, Rijiju referred to a conversation with Tharoor after the special Parliament session.
Rijiju claimed that Tharoor said that while the Congress party may be seen as anti-women, no one would personally call him anti-women.
“Shashi Tharoor said to me after the Parliament session ended, that Congress may be anti-women, but no woman would consider Shashi Tharoor anti-women. I replied that yes, I agree that no one would call you anti-women, but your party is anti-women… He also accepted in a way that Congress is anti-women,” said Rijiju.
He also stated that he agreed with the latter part but maintained that the Congress party itself is anti-women, claiming that Tharoor had “accepted it in a way.”
BJP leader CR Kesavan supported Rijiju’s remarks, accusing the Congress of hypocrisy on women’s empowerment.
“A Congress Working Committee member and senior leader conceding that the Congress party is anti-women completely unmasks the hypocrisy of the Congress party. For the unprincipled Congress party, women empowerment is only applicable to only their first family, both Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are members of Parliament while the Congress party betrays the cause of women’s empowerment by backstabbing the 33% reservation for women in Parliament and State Assemblies. The Congress party never cared or bothered to enact women’s reservation for the 60 years it was approximately in power at the Centre. On the contrary, Congress inflicted injustice and disempowered women’s rights by regressively overturning the Shah Bano verdict,” he said.
He also criticised the Congress party for prioritising representation only for its top leadership while failing to push the 33% Women’s Reservation Bill during its decades in power.
Kesavan also cited the Congress’s reversal of the Shah Bano judgment as a major setback for women’s rights.
Meanwhile, Tharoor did not directly react to Rijiju’s claims; he reposted a social media post that said, “even if people call Congress ‘anti‑women,’ nobody would label him ‘ANTI‑women.’ He never said Congress is anti‑women. It was a witty self‑reference to his image as a ladies’ man and much‑married gentleman.”
Tharoor emphasised that women deserve greater representation in Parliament but warned against linking it with delimitation, which he believes could harm Indian democracy.
Bureau Report
Leave a Reply