Shashi Tharoor posts apology after flak over '...attractive' photo with women MPs

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday found himself in a spot after he shared a picture on social media of himself with six women members of Parliament, receiving flak for his "...attractive place to work..." caption.

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday found himself in a spot after he shared a picture on social media of himself with six women members of Parliament, receiving flak for his "...attractive place to work..." caption. The photograph taken on the first day of the Winter session of Parliament and posted on Tharoor's Twitter handle sports Trinamool's Nusrat Jahan and Mimi Chakraborty, Congress's Jothimani, NCP's Supriya Sule, Amarinder Singh's wife Preneet Kaur and Tamizhachi Thangapandia.

Taking to Twitter, Tharoor wrote: "Who says the Lok Sabha isn't an attractive place to work? With six of my fellow MPs this morning: @supriya_sule @preneet_kaur @ThamizhachiTh @mimichakraborty @nusratchirps @JothimaniMP." Karuna Nundy, a Supreme Court lawyer tweeted, "Incredible that someone as exposed to equality discourse as @ShashiTharoor would attempt to reduce elected political leaders to their looks, and centre himself in the comment to boot. This is 2021, folks."

Vanathi Srinivasan, National President of BJP's Mahila Morcha and an MLA also criticised the Congress leader and accused him of objectifying women. "An elected representative openly objectifying women, that too inside the Parliament is a new low! I take strong objection to @ShashiTharoor's sexist remark. But then, he is only living up to the Congress culture! @BJPMahilaMorcha Strongly Condemns," Srinivasan tweeted.

Faced with backlash, the Thiruvanathapuram MP soon posted an apology message on his account. "The whole selfie thing was done (at the women MPs' initiative) in great good humour and it was they who asked me to tweet it in the same spirit. I am sorry some people are offended but I was happy to be roped into this show of workplace camaraderie. That's all this is," Tharoor tweeted. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)