On the very first day of the Parliamentary winter session, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor invited backlash as he tweeted over Lok Sabha being an “attractive place to work.” After receiving criticism over his selfie with six women MPs, Tharoor had to clarify that the picture and caption for it was just a “show of workplace camaraderie".
Here’s what happened-
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday posted a selfie with six women MPs, Trinamool's Nusrat Jahan and Mimi Chakraborty, Congress's Preneet Kaur, NCP's Supriya Sule, Congress's
Jothiman Sennimalai and DMK's Thamizhachi Thangapandian.
Tharoor’s choice for caption was: “Who says the Lok Sabha isn’t an attractive place to work?”
The tweet, in no time, went viral on the social media platform receiving many hilarious replies. Tharoor's post, however, attracted negative comments for its concealed sexism, prompting
him to release an apology.
Here are some netizen reactions
"Women in the Lok Sabha are not decorative items meant to make your workspace "attractive". They are parliamentarians and you are being disrespectful and sexist," said
journalist Vidya Krishnan.
It minimises women in politics or aspiring to politics, Dr Tharoor, and seems to make attractiveness the criteria. Intention isn't the point here," said Karuna Nundi.
Another user said, "Camaraderie and attractive workplace aren't the same. I am sure with your English language skill you understand the difference. You demonstrated sexism, so please
don't do a cover up now."
Tharoor issues apology
"The whole selfie thing was done (at the women MPs' initiative) in great good humour & 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,” tweeted the Thiruvanathapuram MP.