I've proudly acknowledged my wife, says Tharoor

New Delhi: Hours after he went after Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for attacking Sunanda Pushkar, Minister of State for Human Resources Development (HRD), Shashi Tharoor, said he has never shied away from acknowledging his wife in public or private.

Tharoor was responding to a Twitter user's accusation that he had admitted in Parliament that he had "nothing to do with the person" (Pushkar) with 'sweat equity' worth Rs 70 crore in the Kochi IPL franchise.

"Show me where I claimed I had nothing to do with her. Never said that. Proudly acknowledged her publicly and privately and in Parliament," Tharoor tweeted in response to user @vikas_1967 who said "Modi has not made wrong statement. u spoke in parliament that u hv nothing to do with person hving 50cr.yet u married her".

Pushkar had 'voluntarily' surrendered her 'sweat equity' in the Kochi IPL franchise in 2010 - that analysts saw as an attempt to reduce pressure on Tharoor.

Tharoor on Tuesday hit back at Modi for calling his wife "a 50 crore girlfriend". Modi was alluding to the cricket controversy in 2010 involving Pushkar which led to Tharoor's resignation as Minister of State for External Affairs.

"My wife is worth a lot more than your imaginary 50 crores. She is priceless. But you need to be able to love someone to understand that," Tharoor tweeted to his 1.5 million followers on Twitter. It got retweeted over 800 times, sparking a Twitter clash between his and Modi's followers.