Shashi Tharoor accepted Congress is anti-women: Kiren Rijiju's big claim ::::: Congress leader rebuts

 Union Minister Kiren Rijiju, launching a fresh round of attacks on the Congress, said that Congress MP Shashi Tharoor had “in a way admitted” that the party is anti-women, citing a private conversation between the two leaders after the recent Parliament session that discussed the Women's Reservation Bill.

"After the Parliament session had ended, Tharoor told me in the (Parliament) hall that the Congress party may be anti-women, but no woman would consider Shashi Tharoor anti-women. So I said, yes, I agree that no one would call you anti-women, but your party is anti-women," he said in an interview with news agency ANI.

The Union Minister further argued that Tharoor’s remark amounted to an implicit acknowledgment of the party’s stance.

"He meant that even if Congress may be anti-women, women would not consider Shashi Tharoor anti-women. So what does that mean? It means that, in a way, he also accepted that Congress is anti-women. And I also accepted that he may not personally be anti-women, but his party is anti-women," the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs shared.  

The BJP has accused the Congress of being anti-women after the Opposition voted against the women’s reservation bill and related constitutional amendments. Following the bill’s failure to pass through the Lok Sabha, Rijiju had earlier alleged that the Congress was “celebrating” after “depriving” women of their rights, adding that women across the country would teach the party a fitting lesson.

“It has been established that Congress is anti-women. It will have to face the wrath of the women of the country. The opposition considers it a victory after depriving women of their rights. But the women of the country will teach them a good lesson,” Rijiju said earlier.

Under the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, the number of Lok Sabha seats was proposed to be increased from the current 543 to up to 816 in order to “operationalise” the women’s reservation law ahead of the 2029 parliamentary elections, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census. Seats in state and Union Territory assemblies were also to be expanded to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.

However, the Opposition called for the implementation of the women’s reservation law without increasing the number of seats, arguing that the proposed delimitation exercise was an attempt to redraw the country’s electoral map to benefit the BJP. Opposition parties also contended that such a move would discriminate against southern states, which have implemented more effective population control measures. With the Opposition voting against it, the Bill failed to secure the required two-thirds majority.  

Shashi Tharoor rebuts Kiren Rijiju’s claim, says never implied Congress was ‘anti-woman’

'I am sorry, but with the greatest respect for @KirenRijiju, at no point did I say or imply any such thing — and I have seven witnesses in the photograph who can confirm that!' Tharoor wrote on X.

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