Actor and newly-elected Bharatiya Janata Party MP Kangana Ranaut on Thursday alleged that she was slapped by a Central Industrial Security Force constable at the Chandigarh airport in retaliation for her disparaging remarks about the 2020-’21 farmers’ protest.
Ranaut, the MP from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi, was at the airport to board a flight to Delhi when she was allegedly slapped by the constable, who has now been identified as Kulwinder Kaur. In a video widely shared on social media, Kaur was seen recounting the BJP MP’s remarks about the farmers’ protest in 2020.
The Central Industrial Security Force suspended Kaur and filed a police complaint against her, ANI quoted an unidentified senior officer as saying.
During the protest against the now-repealed farm laws, Ranaut had misidentified a woman farmer and claimed that she was Bilkis Bano, a woman who was at the forefront of the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Referring to Bano, she alleged in a now-deleted tweet that the “same Dadi [grandmother]” who was featured in Time magazine was now “available in Rs 100”, according to The Indian Express.
On Thursday, a video widely shared on social media showed Ranaut being escorted by security officers after she was allegedly slapped.
Ranaut, in a video uploaded later on social media platform X, said she was safe but was concerned about “growing terrorism and extremism in Punjab”.
Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh, who contested unsuccessfully against Ranaut in Mandi, said that the incident was unfortunate.
“This should not happen to anyone, particularly a lady who is a member of Parliament now,” he said, according to ANI. “There were some grievances of the CISF constable regarding the farmer's protest but assaulting someone like this is unfortunate.”
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