Kangana Ranaut is neither permitted nor authorised to make statements on policy issues on behalf of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Hindutva party said on Monday, reported ANI.
The BJP’s clarification came against the backdrop of Ranaut claiming that the farmers’ protests could have led to “Bangladesh-like anarchy” in India.
In a video shared via her X account earlier on Monday, Ranaut said that “bodies were hanging and rapes were taking place” during the farmers’ protest against the now-repealed farm laws.
In 2020, the Centre introduced three new farm laws claiming they would enhance farmers’ access to markets and boost production through private investment.
The laws were repealed in November 2021 after more than a year of protests by farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh who held sit-in agitations at Delhi’s borders. They claimed the laws would make them vulnerable to corporate exploitation and dismantle the minimum support price regime.
“Outside forces are planning to destroy us with the help of insiders,” Ranaut said about the protests in the video she shared on Monday. “If it wouldn’t have been for the foresight of our [Modi government’s] leadership they would have succeeded.”
Following this, Ranaut’s party said: “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.”
“Kangana Ranaut has been directed not to make any such statements in future,” the BJP said. “The Bharatiya Janata Party is committed to following the principles of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas’ and social harmony.”
This is not the first time Ranaut has stoked controversy with her comments about the farmers’ protests.
In June, Ranaut was slapped by a Central Industrial Security Force constable at the Chandigarh airport in retaliation for her disparaging remarks on the matter.
During the protests in 2020-’21, Ranaut misidentified a woman farmer claiming that she was Bilkis Bano, a woman who had been at the forefront of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act protests that began in December 2019.
Referring to Bano, Ranaut alleged in a now-deleted post that the “same Dadi [grandmother]” who was featured in Time magazine was now “available in Rs 100”.
The constable who slapped Ranaut claimed to have taken issue with this comment, which she said were derogatory towards her mother.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!