BJP rebukes Kangana for farmers' protest remarks

The BJP has made it categorically clear that its Himachal BJP MP Kangana Ranaut is not 'permitted or authorised' to comment on behalf of the ruling party's policy issue and has disagreed with her controversial remarks on the farmers' protest.

The BJP leadership reprimanded the 38-year-old actor turned politician saying she has been directed to not make such remarks in the future.

“The statement made by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut in the context of the farmers' movement is not the opinion of the party. The Bharatiya Janata Party expresses its disagreement with the statement made by Kangana Ranaut,” the BJP said in a statement.

This came after Ranaut stoked a controversy by suggesting that the farmers' protests could have led to a Bangladesh-like situation in the country if the top leadership was not strong enough.

In a video shared by the Mandi MP on X, she alleged that “bodies were hanging and rapes were taking place” during the farmers' protest against the now-repealed three farm laws.

Not authorised

The BJP went into damage control mode and issued a statement, which stated that Ranaut is neither permitted nor authorized to make statements on behalf of the BJP on the party’s policy issues.

“On behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Kangana Ranaut has been directed not to make any such statements in future,” the statement said.

“The Bharatiya Janata Party is committed to follow the principles of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas' and social harmony,” it added.

Punjab BJP hits out

Earlier, BJP leaders in Haryana and Punjab also advised the MP from Himachal's Mandi to restrain herself and not to make such inflammatory comments.

"It is not Kangana's department to speak on farmers, Kangana's statement is personal. PM Modi and the BJP are farmer-friendly. The Opposition parties are working against us and Kangana's statement is doing the same. She should not make such statements, on sensitive or religious issues, religious organisations," Punjab BJP leader Harjit Grewal said.

Congress leader Randeep Surjewala also mocked Kangana asking the BJP leader to "get well soon". Currently, campaigning in poll-bound Haryana, Surjewala wanted to know if these were just Kangana's words or did someone else copy them?

"If not, then why is the BJP silent on the issue?" he asked.

Ranaut's remarks rile people

Ranaut has been a long-standing critic of the farmers' protest against the now-repealed three farm laws.

In 2020, she allegedly mistook a woman farmer from Punjab taking part in the protests to Gujarat riot victim Bilkis Bano. The woman farmer, an elderly woman  had become one of the faces of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Law (CAA) protests earlier in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh. She had also said the woman was "available for ₹ 100", alleging that she could be hired for protests.

Her statements created a big row.

On June 6, Ranaut was slapped by a woman Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable at the Chandigarh airport while she was on her way to Delhi in June this year. The constable said her mother had participated in the farmers' protests.

(With inputs from agencies)