The opposition has stepped up its attack on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament (MP) Kangana Ranaut over her remarks on farmers' protests. The Himachal Pradesh Assembly adopted a Congress-backed resolution to condemn her comments. The Aam Aadmi Party held protests at several places in poll-bound Haryana.
The Bollywood actor and MP from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh had posted a clip of her interview with Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar in which she suggested that a ‘Bangladesh-like situation’ could have erupted in India during farmers' protests of 2020-21 but for the country's strong leadership. She then alleged that bodies were hanging and rapes were taking place during the farmers' protest against the now-repealed three farm laws.
She alleged the involvement of China and the US in the "conspiracy".
On Monday, the BJP distanced itself from Kangana Ranaut's remarks and asked her to refrain from making such statements.
The remarks triggered heated exchanges in the assembly of the Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh as the House adopted a resolution condemning the remarks, according to a PTI report.
With Haryana going to polls on October 1, the opposition targeted the ruling BJP over the issue. The Aam Aadmi Party's Haryana unit staged protests in the state against her remarks, with a party leader saying her statement indicates the BJP's "mindset" towards farmers. The AAP leaders and workers held protests at various places, including Jind, Yamunanagar, and Panchkula, the PTI report said.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi too hit out at Kangana expecting her to apologise for the remarks and the BJP to express regrets over it.
"Kangana Ranaut has not apologised for her statement against farmers. BJP's statement expresses no regret about the charges made by her against farmers. She is a BJP member & MP, if no action taken against her it's fair to say that BJP is only paying lip service to the farmers," she said in a post on X.
In the Himachal Assembly, as soon as the opposition BJP staged a walkout over the rejection of its adjournment motion on the law and order situation, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan moved a resolution condemning Kangana Ranaut's remarks.
"The remarks by Kangana are an insult to the farmers of the entire country. The Opposition has left the House but we wanted to know the stand of the BJP on the issue," he said. After the BJP members returned to the House, he asked them to clear their stand on the issue.
Members from both sides started raising slogans as Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said Kangana's remarks were personal and it is not the view of the party.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu supported the resolution and said the BJP should have come forward to discuss the issue. Supporting the resolution, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said the farmers are furious over Kangana's remarks and the BJP should seriously consider its conduct.
Himachal Pradesh PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh and her mother Pratibha Singh, who is the state Congress president, hit out at Kangana, terming her remarks on the farmers' protest as "reckless and misinformed".
The Congress leaders, in two separate statements, condemned Ranaut's remarks and said they were a grave insult to the farmers.
Kangana had defeated Vikramaditya in the Lok Sabha election from Mandi.
The Haryana unit of AAP held demonstrations at various places with state senior vice president Anurag Dhanda leading a protest in the Yamunanagar district. The protesters carrying placards raised slogans against the BJP government.
Haryana AAP president Sushil Gupta dubbed Ranaut's remarks "shameful". He alleged the BJP hated farmers because they forced them to roll back the "black" farm laws.
Thousands of farmers from Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and other places had held an agitation at Delhi's borders for several months in 2020-21 over the now-repealed farm laws.
(With PTI inputs)
