‘At No Point’: Shashi Tharoor Denies Calling Congress ‘Anti-Women’, Rejects Rijiju’s Claim

Last Updated:April 28, 2026, 18:18 IST

Tharoor defended himself, saying he had “seven witnesses” present during the interaction who could confirm his statement.

Congress senior leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday rejected Union minister Kiren Rijiju’s claim that he had agreed the Congress is “anti-women", saying that “at no point did I say or imply" any such remarks about his party.

In a post on social media platform X, Tharoor defended himself, saying he had “seven witnesses" present during the interaction who could confirm his statement, adding that he did not agree in any way with the interpretation being attributed to him.

“‘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," the Congress leader wrote.

Tharoor further asserted that the Indian National Congress has consistently supported women’s rights and reservation, pointing to its past initiatives on the Women’s Reservation Bill.

ALSO READ: ‘He Accepted Congress Is Anti-Women’: Kiren Rijiju’s Big Remark On Shashi Tharoor

“INC has stood for women’s rights and women’s reservation under a strong woman President in Sonia Gandhi… We are totally in favour of women’s reservation and are prepared to have it implemented right now — without linking it to delimitation," the Thiruvananthapuram MP noted.

Rijiju’s reported comments came while narrating details of the conversation he had with Tharoor on April 18 after the end of the three-day special sitting of Parliament during which the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill to implement 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures in 2029 and increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 was defeated in the Lok Sabha.

Tharoor on April 18 had shared a snippet of his conversation with Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rijiju after the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die, and said the BJP leader conceded that “no one could ever call me anti-women".

Tharoor had said women are by far the better half of the species – ‘Humans 2.0’ – and deserve representation in Parliament and in every institution.

“Just don’t link their advancement to a mischievous and potentially dangerous Delimitation that could devastate our democracy," he had said on X.

Sharing a picture of some opposition MPs standing with Rijiju in the Lok Sabha, Tharoor had said, “A little post-adjournment gathering of Opposition MPs in the Lok Sabha with our charming Parliamentary Affairs Minister.

“When Kiren Rijiju explained why he and his party were calling the Opposition ‘mahila virodhi’, it was pointed out to him that no one could ever call me anti-women! He conceded the point…" While 298 members voted in support of the Bill, 230 MPs voted against it. Out of 528 members who voted, the Bill required 352 votes for a two-thirds majority.

The Bill proposed to increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to 816 from the current 543 to “operationalise" the women’s reservation law before the 2029 parliamentary polls, following a delimitation exercise based on the 2011 Census.

Seats were also to be increased in state and UT assemblies to accommodate 33 per cent reservation for women.

The three-day special sitting was convened from April 16 to 18 to secure Parliament’s approval for the Bill.

After the bill was defeated, the Congress had said the “nefarious attempt" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to link their “dangerous delimitation proposals" to women’s reservation had been decisively defeated in the Lok Sabha, calling it a win for democracy and the Constitution.

(With inputs from PTI)

News politics ‘At No Point’: Shashi Tharoor Denies Calling Congress ‘Anti-Women’, Rejects Rijiju’s Claim

Read More