The BJP on Monday denounced its Lok Sabha MP and film actor Kangana Ranaut for her disparaging remarks on the farmers agitation, as it expressed disagreement with her views and made it clear that she is neither permitted nor authorised to comment on the party’s 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 as her controversial remarks threatened to inflame an issue it has tried hard to contain over the last few years.
The Mandi MP 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 She then alleged that “bodies were hanging and rapes were taking place” during the farmers’ protest against the now-repealed three farm laws.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”.
The BJP said, “The statement made by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut in the context of the farmers’ agitation is not the opinion of the party. The Bharatiya Janata Party expresses its disagreement with the statement made by Kangana Ranaut.”
As the BJP swung to distance itself from her remarks, the Congress piled pressure on the ruling party seeking her expulsion if it indeed disagreed with her views.
With Haryana, where the farmers had extended considerable support to the protest which involved a larger number of farmers from Punjab, going to the polls in a few weeks, the BJP has sought to shield itself from any blowback Ranaut’s remarks may trigger in the state.