Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday rejected Union minister Kiren Rijiju’s claim that he had agreed the Congress was “anti-women,” saying he “did NOT agree in any way” and asserting his party’s record on women’s rights and reservation.

Responding to Rijiju’s reported remarks about a conversation between the two, Tharoor said on X, “I am sorry, but with the greatest respect for Kiren Rijiju, at no point did I say or imply any such thing — and I have seven witnesses in the photograph who can confirm that!”

“‘That was what he meant’, our Minister says. No, sir, that is NOT what I meant. ‘That Congress can be anti-women...he agreed in a way,’ he added. I am sorry but I did NOT agree in any way,” he said.

Tharoor reiterated that the Congress supports women’s reservation without conditions. “We are totally in favour of women's reservation and are prepared to have it implemented right now -- without linking it to delimitation,” he said.

He added that the party had a track record on the issue, noting it “stood for women's rights and women's reservation under a strong woman president in Sonia Gandhi, initiated the Women's Reservation Bill, passed it in the Rajya Sabha during our tenure and supported it in the Lok Sabha when it was brought by government of India in 2023.”

Rijiju’s comments referred to an interaction on April 18 after a three-day special sitting of Parliament. Tharoor had earlier shared details of the exchange, saying the minister had conceded that “no one could ever call me anti-women.”

The dispute comes after the Lok Sabha failed to pass the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, which sought to provide 33% reservation for women in legislatures from 2029 and expand the House’s strength to 816 seats following delimitation based on the 2011 Census. The bill secured 298 votes in favour and 230 against, falling short of the two-thirds majority required.

The Congress has opposed linking women’s reservation to delimitation, arguing it could have wider implications for representation.

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Arpita Ghosh (She/Her) is an Assistant Editor at Times Now Digital, with over eight years of experience in digital journalism. She has worked across v...View More

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