Chandigarh/New Delhi: Every woman, irrespective of her background and profession, deserves dignity, actor Kangana Ranaut said on Tuesday as Congress leaders’ comments on Mandi from where she is contesting the Lok Sabha elections snowballed into a massive political row.
Ranaut, who makes her political debut as a BJP candidate from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, said she was particularly pained by the derogatory comments on the constituency that is often referred to as “Chhota Kashi” the world over.
The Congress has been in the crosshairs after demeaning remarks on Ranaut and Mandi were posted on the social media handles of its leaders Supriya Shrinate and HS Ahir.
“Whatever be the profession of a woman, be it a teacher, actress, journalist, politician or a sex worker, all of them deserve dignity. I’m pained especially because of the deplorable comments made about Mandi… All of us who come from Mandi have been hurt by the comments,” Ranaut told reporters outside the Chandigarh airport.
Asked whether she plans to take any action against the two Congress leaders, the “Queen” actor, often in the news for her controversial comments on a range of issues, said she had been called to Delhi by BJP president J P Nadda and would respond only after meeting him.
“I have to maintain the dignity of the party. I can’t walk before it. I have to walk with them and follow their instructions,” the 37-year-old said.
A host of BJP leaders, including Bansuri Swaraj, Amit Malviya and former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, spoke up on the issue.
Congress spokesperson Shrinate said in her defence on Monday, when the controversy erupted, that many people have access to her Facebook and Instagram accounts and one of them made the inappropriate post. She also said she had deleted the post and will take action against a parody account that is using her name.
But that had little impact.
“If your account is posting what a parody account posts, then it simply means that admins of both accounts are same. One has to be self conceited, to the point of being deranged, to do so. Also the admins must have very low opinion of you to post such offensive stuff and get away,” Malviya said.
Bansuri Swaraj, daughter of the late Sushma Swaraj and the party’s candidate from New Delhi, said the top leadership of the Congress must apologise.
“Such derogatory words were used for someone who is India’s daughter and a woman. This is very shocking, and has shown the mentality of the Congress. The top leadership of the Congress should apologise for this,” she told PTI.
Thakur added in a statement that the remarks would be legally examined and the BJP was moving towards registering a case.
Shrinate, he said, had made a “big mistake” as people of faith come to Mandi, which is known as “Chhoti Kashi” and is an abode for over 300 temples.
“It is unfortunate that being a woman herself, the Congress spokesperson has made such remarks against another woman and now she is trying to retract by saying that someone has used her other account,” Thakur said.
Union minister Smriti Irani and BJP’s Chandigarh MP Kirron Kher have also added their voice to the chorus of condemnation. While Irani is a former TV actor, Kher continues to be a prominent face in Hindi films.
There were others who backed Ranaut.
Targeting Shrinate, former Congress leader Sharmistha Mukherjee said, “She’s saying ‘access’, not hacked! One gives access to SM accounts only to known & trusted people. Nothing left of Congress ideology with the Rahul-Congress gang. ‘Nari Nyay’ is nothing but an empty slogan by a bunch of hypocrites!”
Former diplomat Lakshmi Puri termed the remarks against the actor “despicable, derogatory & condemnable”.
“That it should come from another woman politician is all the more galling – how can we as women become transmitters of toxic patriarchy & demeaning slurs & insults that scrape at the bottom of the barrel of indignity!” she posted on X.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera took up cudgels on his colleague’s behalf. “Anybody who has known my colleague @SupriyaShrinate will vouch for the fact that she can never resort to such objectionable language ever.”
Congress’ Srinivas BV agreed that the remarks against Ranaut from Shrinate’s account were “absolutely derogatory”.
However, he also raked up Ranaut’s past controversial statement in which she had called actor-politician Urmila Matondkar a “soft porn star”.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) has written to the Election Commission demanding strict action against Shrinate and Ahir.
“National Commission for Women is appalled by the disgraceful conduct of Ms. Supriya Shrinate and Mr H S Ahir, who made lewd and derogatory remarks about @KanganaTeam on social media. Such behavior is intolerable and goes against the dignity of women… ” the NCW said in a post on Monday.
Ranaut took the opportunity to hit out at Shrinate and remind her of the many roles she had done.
“Dear Supriya ji, in the last 20 years of my career as an artist I have played all kinds of women. From a naive girl in ‘Queen’ to a seductive spy in ‘Dhaakad’, from a goddess in ‘Manikarnika’ to a demon in ‘Chandramukhi’, from a prostitute in ‘Rajjo’ to a revolutionary leader in ‘Thalaivii’,” Ranaut said in a post on X on Monday.
“We must free our daughters from the shackles of prejudices, we must rise above the curiosity about their body parts and above all we must refrain from using sex workers challenging lives or circumstances as some kind of abuse or slur… every woman deserves her dignity…,” she said.
PTI