5 times Kangana Ranaut stoked a political row

Although Supriya clarified that the post, which has since been removed from Instagram, was posted from a parody account, she has however issued an apology. 

Kangana Ranaut is contesting Lok Sabha elections 2024 as a Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Mandi in her home state of Himachal Pradesh.

This is not the first time that the Queen actor is at the centre of a political controversy. Here are five recent political controversies involving the actor-turned politician:

‘Real Freedom in 2014’

Kangana has been a vocal supporter of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In November 2021, the Thalaivii actor sparked a row with her thoughts on the freedom of India. At a TV channel summit, Kangana said that the freedom India got in 1947 was a ‘bheek’ or ‘alms’. She, in fact, said the citizens of India got real freedom in 2014, when Narendra Modi was sworn in as Prime Minister for the first time.

Many criticised her for insulting freedom fighters with the comment. And among those who responded was BJP member of parliament Varun Gandhi who wondered if he should call the comment ‘madness or treason’.

‘Spreading Hate’

In May, the same year, an FIR was filed against Kangana for allegedly spreading hate propaganda and inciting communal violence in West Bengal. The complaint said that the actor had maligned the image of West Bengal’s Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

The police filed a case after the ‘Queen’ actor took a direct dig at Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee while responding to the post-poll vilolence in West Bengal. The comments led to her X (then Twitter) account being suspended, only to be restored two years later.

A spokesperson of X had then said that her posts were provoking anger and violence and diminishing the value of global public conversation on the platform

Comparing Mumbai to PoK

Earlier, in 2020, Kangana triggered another controversy. She said that Mumbai police haunted her more than the mafias of Bollywood. She went on comparing Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Kangana’s statement was to counter Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut. The Rajya Sabha MP had slammed her for her adverse comments about Mumbai Police.

Also Read : Kangana you keep shining…: NCW says it is ‘appalled’ by Congress’ Supriya Shrinate’s post. What we know so far

A political row followed and the then Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray also got involved. A municipality team visited Kangana’s production house in Mumbai and issued her a notice for illegal construction. A demolition drive was undertaken. Later on, however, the Bombay High Court ordered a stay on the BMC’s move.

Urmila, a ‘soft porn star’

In another controversy in 2020, Kangana called actress-turned-politician Urmila Matondkar ‘a soft porn star’. Kangana made the statement against Urmila, then a Congress leader, during a TV interview.

Visibly miffed over questions regarding her political aspirations, Kangana responded saying if Urmila, who according to her was only known for her ‘soft porn films’, could get an election ticket, why couldn’t she?

Urmila made her political debut as a Congress candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha election from the Mumbai North seat. She lost. Later, she resigned from Congress and joined Shiv Sena in 2020.

‘Anti-farmer’ tweets

During the peak of Farmers’ Protest in 2020-21, Kangana had made many controversial statements and even termed farmers “terrorists.”

In February 2021, X (then Twitter) removed some of her posts that, according to the social media platform, were in violation of the platform’s rules on hate speech. In fact, a court in Karnataka had ordered police to register an FIR against Kangana for her anti-farmer posts.

Also Watch: Kangana Ranaut reacts after BJP fields Bollywood actor from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi, ‘If they choose me…’

Kangana also received flak for “wrongly” identifying an elderly woman at the ongoing farmers’ stir as “Bilkis dadi” who was seen protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (now implemented) at Shaheen Bagh in the national capital, saying “she is the same old lady who featured in Time magazine for being the most powerful woman”. 

The controversy even involved actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh who while defending the farmers, got involved in a bitter war of words with Kangana Ranaut on social media platform X.

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Published: 26 Mar 2024, 06:32 PM IST