New Delhi: Congress MP Shashi Tharoor issued an apology and retracted his statement against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal amidst social media outcry on Monday, January 13. Appearing in an interview with CNN-News 18, Tharoor had taken a jibe at Kejriwal and said that the Delhi CM was enjoying “power without responsibility, which has been a prerogative of eunuchs”.
After a clip of the interview was shared on social media, netizens criticised Tharoor for his transphobic usage of the word “eunuch”. The LGBT community demanded Tharoor’s immediate apology with some even calling for a boycott of the leader’s events.
Soon after the comments started pouring in, Tharoor put out a tweet in which he offered an apology and withdrew his remark. He said, “Apologies to those who found my quote about “power without responsibility” offensive. It’s an old line from British politics, going back to Kipling & Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, & most recently used by Tom Stoppard. I recognize that its use today was inappropriate & withdraw it.”
However, Tharoor’s apology evoked criticism as well since he had dropped the operative part of his statement, as was pointed out by several social media users.
