Dr Ambedkar was India's 'first male feminist', says Shashi Tharoor
Panaji(PTI): Dr B R Ambedkar was India's first male feminist, who propagated such ideas decades back that could be considered as progressive even for the current generation of politicians, Congress leader and writer Shashi Tharoor said here on Saturday.
He was speaking during an interaction programme at the ongoing Goa Heritage Festival.
"He (Ambedkar) was probably India's first male feminist. Way back in 1920, 30s, 40s he made speeches, including in front of a female audience, which today would be considered as progressive for a male politician," the Congress MP said while speaking about his latest book "Ambedkar: A Life".
"He (Ambedkar) urged women not to allow themselves to be forced into marriage. He urged women to delay marriage, delay childbirth. He urged them to stand up to their husbands as equals," The Thiruvanathapuram MP said.
Ambedkar as a legislator fought for women workers and labourers, he said, adding, "It was a remarkable feminist thinking of this man 80-90 years ago."
"There is a tendency to see Ambedkar as a Dalit leader. He was the principal Dalit leader of the country. From his early 20s, he was an influential voice and became more and more influential," he said.
Ambedkar was an extraordinary constitutionalist, being the chairman of the drafting committee. It was he who presented and defended every single one of the provisions of the Constitution, Tharoor said.
Responding to a question on India's image globally, Tharoor said that in 1975, the country's image in America was awful.
"It was considered a poor country and people's idea about India was about fakirs sleeping on nail-bed or snake-charmers doing road tricks. From there, the transformation has been astonishing. By the turn of the millennium, you have Indian software revolution and suddenly started imagining Indians as computer gigs," he said.
Tharoor said that the 'Y2K' phenomenon was a turning point for the Indian computer professionals.
"There was a fear that all the computers would crash...Suddenly we had a demand for Indians doing codes to overcome that problem and that's when India's software revolution really took off," he said.
According to him, the other thing that happened in the western world was about the consciousness of Indian expatriates as not just computer people, but engineers and doctors.
"Indians, from being beggars and snake-charmers, were now software engineers," he said.
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Kerala polls: ‘People rejected 10 years of misrule’, says AICC gen secy
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal on Monday said the Congress-led UDF’s sweeping victory in the Kerala Assembly polls was a clear verdict against the “arrogance”, corruption, and nepotism of the CPI(M)-led LDF government headed by CM Pinarayi Vijayan.
Addressing a press conference as counting of votes for all 140 Assembly constituencies neared completion, Venugopal said the outcome reflected public anger against what he termed “10 years of misrule” by the Left government.
He claimed that Vijayan’s victory in his home constituency, Dharmadam, was “only technical”, alleging that the CM trailed the UDF candidate in the initial rounds of counting and failed to secure a majority in his own village.
“He just escaped. He suffered a setback even in his home turf. He was the only person who did not realise the people’s mood in this election,” Venugopal said.
Alleging that the CPI(M) and the LDF had resorted to “communal and opportunistic politics”, he further claimed that the ruling front had entered into a “secret understanding” with the BJP in a bid to retain power for a third consecutive term.
He said that when a government driven by power and arrogance attempts to align with anyone to stay in office, even its own cadre turns against it.
Referring to the results, Venugopal said that while the UDF expected rebel CPI(M) leaders, including K Kunhikrishnan in Payyannur, to impact the vote share, their victories came as a surprise.
Describing the UDF’s performance as a “historic victory”, he attributed it to coordinated teamwork, grassroots mobilisation, and the dedication of party workers, adding that the alliance accepted the mandate “with humility”.
Venugopal also credited Rahul Gandhi’s campaign guarantees, calling them a “trump card” that helped voters focus on real issues and reject what he described as the LDF’s “false narratives”.
He claimed that the Congress witnessed one of its lowest levels of rebellion in this election, which contributed to the alliance’s strong performance.
The senior Congress leader further alleged that the BJP managed to win two seats with the help of the CPI(M), and asserted that forces attempting to divide society on communal lines should “learn a lesson” from Kerala’s verdict.
“This is the real Kerala story,” he said.
On the question of the next Chief Minister, Venugopal said the party leadership would decide at the earliest after due consultations.
The counting of votes began on Monday morning for all 140 Assembly constituencies in Kerala, where the Congress-led UDF secured a decisive majority, defeating the CPI(M)-led LDF, which was seeking an unprecedented third consecutive term in office.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) posts, "Thank you to my brothers and sisters in Keralam for a truly decisive mandate. Congratulations to every UDF leader and worker for a hard-fought, well-run campaign. As I said before, Keralam has the talent, Keralam has the potential… pic.twitter.com/6T4IZbEmp4
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 4, 2026
