Kangana meets Nadda days after snub over her 'embarrassing' remarks on farmers' protests

Days after the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) distanced itself from her comments against farmers and made it clear that she is not authorised to speak on behalf of the ruling party, Mandi BJP MP Kangana Ranaut on Thursday called on party president JP Nadda.

Party sources said that at their half hour meeting in New Delhi, Nadda reportedly reminded Kangana not to comment on all and sundry issues, particularly ahead of key state elections.

There has been no official statement on what transpired at the meeting.

What Kangana said

Earlier this week, the 38-year-old first-time MP from Himachal Pradesh had said in Mumbai that “dead bodies were hanging and rapes were being committed” at the spot near Delhi’s borders where thousands of farmers had collected to protest against the now spiked farm laws.

She also mentioned that the situation could have led to a Bangladesh-type situation in India and that “China, America, these kinds of foreign powers are working here”.

The BJP did not approve of her statements and the party issued a statement making it clear that she is not authorised to speak on policy matters. "The Bharatiya Janata Party has directed Kangana Ranaut to not make any statement of this kind in future," the ruling party said in a statement.

The Mandi MP, a Padma Shri winner, had also controversially alleged the involvement of China and the US in the "conspiracy". This created a stir among the Opposition parties who lambasted her. The Opposition said that her remarks indicates the BJP's "mindset" towards farmers.

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Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and other places had held an agitation at Delhi's borders for several months over the now-repealed farm laws.

Embarrassment for BJP

Kangana’s comments proved to be a huge embarrassment for the BJP, which faces a massive electoral challenge in Haryana, one of the states where the farmers’ protests took place most intensely and where Assembly elections are due in October.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said: “I would like to tell the BJP to control its MPs. The kind of statements being made about the farmers’ protest are intolerable.”