New Delhi:
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has agreed that his party is anti-women, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju has claimed, recalling a conversation with him in Parliament. Rejecting this, Tharoor said today he had never said or implied something like that.
Responding to a report on Rijiju’s claim, the Congress leader said he has “seven witnesses” to back his denial.
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!
“That was what he meant”, our Minister says. No, sir, that is NOT what I meant. “That Congress can be… https://t.co/hkUsYgOY7a
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 28, 2026
“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! “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,” Tharoor’s post read.
Rijiju had made the remark on Tharoor in an interview, a clip from which he has shared on his X handle. Recalling a conversation with Tharoor, the minister said that they both agreed that he is not anti-women “maybe because he is highly popular among women.”
Dr @ShashiTharoor and I had agreed on one point. He is definitely not anti women.
May be because… he is higly popular amongst women, or Vice Versa !! pic.twitter.com/Ml7dELRf4P— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) April 28, 2026
“Shashi Tharoor said to me after the Parliament session ended that no woman would consider him anti-women. I replied that yes, I agree that no one would call you anti-women, but your party is anti-women. In a way, he accepted what I said, and I accepted what he said,” Rijiju is hearing saying in the video.
The BJP had been accusing the Congress and other opposition parties of being anti-women over their pushback to the Women’s Quota Bill. The Bill was defeated in Lok Sabha after the NDA failed to secure the required two-thirds majority.
Stressing the Congress’s stand, Tharoor said that his party has always stood for women’s rights and women’s reservation and are prepared to implement it right away without linking it to delimitation.
“Congress has 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 GoI in 2023. We are totally in favour of women’s reservation and are prepared to have it implemented right now — without linking it to delimitation.