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.
According to Rijiju, the core issue was “not whether women support or oppose us,” but the provision of 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. "Don't analyse this from a political lens. They will have to face women's anger for opposing this," he said on Tuesday.
Responding to criticism that the BJP knew the bill would not pass, Rijiju told ANI that the issue was not about prior knowledge. “Who would imagine that anyone would vote against women? Who would have thought, even in their dreams, that the Congress, TMC and SP would oppose it?” he said. Addressing concerns over delimitation being linked to the Bill, he added, “This provision was already part of the 2023 Act. Why didn’t they oppose it then?”
On the possible electoral outcome in West Bengal, Rijiju said the BJP was gaining ground and had positioned itself as the only party capable of reversing the state’s economic decline, blaming successive Congress, Left, and TMC governments.
“The picture in Bengal has become very clear. Prime Minister Modi’s and the BJP’s wave has reached the ground. People have realised that the ways in which the TMC has ruined West Bengal, only the BJP can clean that up. It is also very important for us that the BJP comes to power in Bengal,” he said.
Further attacking the opposition, he asserted that leaders who target Prime Minister Narendra Modi face political decline, amid remarks by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. “Whoever targets PM Modi will see their political graph take a downward turn. People don't like those who target PM Modi or hurl abuses at him,” the minister remarked.
Rijiju also dismissed allegations that AAP MPs who joined the BJP were coerced, accusing Arvind Kejriwal of turning the party into a “private outfit” and claiming that several leaders had voluntarily exited.
“There’s no question of coercion. The common man has been robbed under the name of ‘Aam Aadmi’. Arvind Kejriwal has taken complete control and turned the Aam Aadmi Party into his own private party. One after another, many people from the Aam Aadmi Party have quit and even joined the BJP or Congress. So, did they do that out of fear of the ED too? Now, only his core group, who engage in illegal activities together, remains. All the good people have left Kejriwal.”
Looking ahead, Rijiju also expressed confidence that the BJP would secure a full majority in the 2026 Assam Assembly elections, maintaining that issues such as illegal immigration predated the party and would not hinder its prospects.
Source: India Today