Himachal assembly resolution condemns Kangana Ranaut's remarks

The opposition on Tuesday, 28 August, stepped up its attack on BJP MP Kangana Ranaut over her remarks on the farmers' protests, with the Himachal Pradesh assembly adopting a Congress-backed resolution to condemn her comments and AAP holding protests at several places in Haryana.

The 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 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She then alleged that bodies were hanging and rapes were taking place during the farmers' protest against the now-repealed three farm laws.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".

Ranaut's remarks triggered heated exchanges in the assembly of her Congress-ruled home state as the House adopted a resolution condemning the remarks.

With Haryana going to polls on 1 October, the opposition targeted the ruling BJP over the issue there as well.

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.

Priyanka Chaturvedi, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP in the Rajya Sabha, also hit out at Ranaut, calling for her to apologise for her remarks and for the BJP to express its 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 [and] MP, if no action taken against her it's fair to say that BJP is only paying lip service to the farmers,' she posted 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 said the remarks from Kangana Ranaut are insulting to the entire farming community of the country.

After the BJP members returned to the House, he asked them to clarify their stand on the issue. Members from both sides started raising slogans. Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur eventually said that Ranaut's remarks were personal and do not reflect the view of the party.

The BJP had on Monday, 26 August, denounced the actor and MP for her disparaging remarks on the farmers' agitation, expressing disagreement with her views and making it clear that she is neither permitted nor authorised to comment on the party's policy matters.

Thakur said the BJP members would follow the party's high command in this, but according to parliamentary convention, would not like to engage in discussion on a person not present in the House.

Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said the BJP should have come forward to discuss the issue, however.

Supporting the resolution, deputy chief minister Mukesh Agnihotri said the farmers are furious over Ranaut's remarks and the BJP should seriously consider its members' conduct.

Revenue minister Jagat Singh Negi said an FIR should be registered against the actor–MP as her remarks can create a law-and-order situation.

Kuldeep Singh Rathore of the Congress said Ranaut was habituated to making "ridiculous" remarks.

Pacifying the agitated members, speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania said a resolution condemning the remarks of Kangana Ranaut had been passed by the House and there was no need for further discussions.

Himachal Pradesh PWD minister Vikramaditya Singh and his mother Pratibha Singh, who is the state Congress president, hit out at Ranaut as well, terming her remarks "reckless and misinformed". The Congress leaders, in two separate statements, condemned her remarks and said they were a grave insult to farmers.

Notably, it was Vikramaditya that Ranaut defeated in the Lok Sabha election for the Mandi seat.

Vikramaditya, in his statement, said, 'Her baseless allegations questioning the role of USA and China in the farmer unrest are ludicrous, not grounded in reality, and showcase her intellectual bankruptcy... As a member of the treasury benches and an elected representative of the Mandi parliamentary segment, Kangana Ranaut should be restrained while speaking on such sensitive issues.

'It is noteworthy that the Union government, particularly the ministry of external affairs, should respond to her claims, which undermine the nation's foreign policy.'

The minister added that statements against a particular segment of society, in this case farmers, are an insult to their struggles and sacrifices and added that the statement is especially unacceptable given that the "black laws" have been rolled back by the prime minister.

"We demand an apology from her for her insensitive and divisive remarks," he said.

Himachal Pradesh Congress president and former MP Pratibha Singh said even though the BJP has expressed disagreement with Ranaut's remarks in one of its statements, the party's refusal to apologise to the farmers of the country for the "insulting statement exposes its double standards".

As the Haryana unit of the AAP held demonstrations in the Yamunanagar district, led by state senior vice president Anurag Dhanda, state 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.

Ranaut had made such statements about farmers earlier as well, Gupta said, alleging it has been the "mentality" of the BJP that those who abuse farmers are rewarded with posts.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said Ranaut's comments were deliberate and would be used as a shield, so that the top leadership of the BJP would not be blamed for its imminent defeat in the Haryana assembly polls.

'This is the BJP's script, which is being read out by an actress as dialogue on the instructions of a top director. When an ordinary politician understands that using abusive language about the farmers' movement in a farmers' state will harm their prospects, the BJP's Chanakya does not understand this?' Yadav, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, said in a post in Hindi on X.

'The real truth of this episode is that such a thing must have been said deliberately so that the statement of the actress can be cited as the reason for the defeat that has already been decided in Haryana and the top leadership is not blamed for it. This is not a statement but a 'word shield' to protect someone,' he added.

Thousands of farmers from Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and other places had held an agitation at Delhi's borders for several months over the now-repealed farm laws.