Shashi Tharoor's photo tweet immediately drew attention and comments
Is the Lok Sabha an attractive place to work? Congress MP Shashi Tharoor hinted that when he posted a picture with six women Members of Parliament and captioned it as such. The picture came at the start of the Winter Session of Parliament.
"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," tweeted the Thiruvanathapuram MP.
As the tweet attracted negative comments for its concealed sexism, the Congress MP tweeted out an 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 in to this show of workplace camaraderie. That's all this is," the Thiruvanathapuram MP clarified in another post.
The women MPs, cutting across party lines, were all smiles with Mr Tharoor in the background.
Trinamool's Nusrat Jahan and Mimi Chakraborty, Amarinder Singh's wife Preneet Kaur, NCP's Supriya Sule, Congress's Jothimani, and Tamizhachi Thangapandia posed with Mr Tharoor.
The tweet drew biting criticism for queering the equality discourse and being insensitive.
"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," posted Karuna Nundy, a Supreme Court lawyer.
"Attractive place to work? It's 2021. Seriously, uncle?" tweeted another.
"Casual objectification, nice!" pointed out yet another.
"Attractive or inclusive?" asked another.
"At this point, you are just asking for more memes," pointed another.
Vanathi Srinivasan, national president of the BJP's Mahila Morcha and an MLA, criticised Mr Tharoor and accused him of objectifying women.
Mr Tharoor had tweeted another set of picture featuring party men on the eve of the parliament session.
Great to catch up with some @INCIndia MP colleagues gathering in Delhi in advance of tomorrow's Parliament session. Tea, coffee, pakoras & conversation were on the menu and effective action on the agenda! @ManishTewari @pradyutbordoloi @KartiPC," he captioned the post.
The parliament session promises to be action-packed with the opposition planning to attack the government on a range of issues, including the rollback of the three farm bills enacted last year.
The government has decided to bring in 36 bills including one that will repeal the controversial farm laws enacted last year.