Kangana Ranaut and Vikramaditya Singh War of Words: Who Will Win the Lok Sabha Seat in Mandi?

Mandi: Kangana Ranaut, Bollywood actress-filmmaker who turned politician and is the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from her hometown Mandi in Himachal Pradesh for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, is going all out on her campaign trail. Kangana yet again hit out at the Indian National Congress and nepotism, an allegation she first made against some renowned Bollywood families. Pitted against Kangana Ranaut in Mandi is Vikramaditya Singh of the Congress, born in a political family. A war of words ensued between Kangana Ranaut and Vikramaditya Singh again, as the two politicians brace themselves for a big contest.

“Mandi will teach a lesson to Congress' ‘shehzadas’ for making inappropriate comments and disrespecting the women of the state,” said Kangana Ranaut at a rally in Jhakari, Mandi on April 27. The actress-politician was replying to Vikramaditya Singh, whom she addressed as the "Prince of Rampur", for his remarks on her Bollywood career.

Vikramaditya Singh belongs to a political family of Himachal Pradesh, and is the son of six-time Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Pratibha Singh, Member of Parliament from Mandi. Kangana Ranaut’s family was associated with Congress in Himachal in the past, but now are with the BJP.

Vikramaditya Singh had said about Kangana Ranaut earlier, "I pray to Lord Ram to give her wisdom and hope she goes back pure from 'Dev Bhoomi' Himachal to the Bollywood because she will not win the election since she knows nothing about the people of Himachal."

Kangana gave a sharp retort, saying, "Now they are saying that I am impure because I have come here after working in the film industry and I should first go and purify myself." She had referred to Mandi as ‘Dev Bhoomi’, when Congress leader and former journalist Supriya Shrinate had posted an objectionable picture of Kangana Ranaut with a caption demeaning her constituency.

Congress and nepotism

While speaking at a meeting with BJP party workers at Baldwara in Sarkaghat, Mandi on April 26, Kangana said, “The Congress promotes nepotism, wherein only the sons and daughters of the party leaders are given a chance to come forward in politics. On the other hand, in the BJP, common party workers also get a ticket and are given the opportunity to move forward, based on their work.”

Kangana added, “PM Narendra Modi has given 33 percent reservation to women in Legislative Assemblies and Parliament, which will help them come forward in large numbers. Modi ji will certainly get the full support of women this time. Congress leaders question the Indian Army, insult women, and have called Lord Ram imaginary. This is the same party under whose rule many scams related to coal, 2G, 4G and fodder took place. After 2014, the country has not heard of any such scam.”

“We have to uproot the Congress completely from Himachal Pradesh. To uplift the state, we have to bring a permanent government that can bring development for a long time like the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, which will now come to power for the third time,” she expressed confidence.

Vikramaditya challenges Kangana’s knowledge of Indian history

“When did India get freedom? Who was our first Prime Minister? Even a child knows these things,” Vikramaditya said about Kangana at a speech at Balh in Mandi on April 25. He was referring to Kangana’s recent statement saying that Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was the first prime minister of independent India, and Jawaharlal Nehru.

Kangana had also suggested that India got freedom in 2014, when PM Narendra Modi first came to power. As a response to it, Vikramaditya questioned, “What freedom did India achieve in 2014? Are you disrespecting the sacrifices of our freedom fighters who laid down their lives for the country?”

“She describes India’s freedom in 1947 as mere ‘bheekh’ (alms). This is an insult to the sacrifices of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev, Sardar Patel, Mahatma Gandhi and others...I want to remind you (Kangana) that your remarks have also insulted (former PM and BJP veteran) Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Our country became a nuclear power during his tenure and we respect him for that. Only to make one person happy, you have disrespected even the BJP leaders,” he added.

As the battle for the hot seat in Mandi gets murkier, Ranaut has a big legacy of Singh’s family to fight. Kangana may be inexperienced as a politician but has all the support and the enthusiasm of a newcomer, which may well spring a surprise in the Lok Sabha constituency. If she were to win the elections, Kangana would have beat nepotism in both Bollywood and the political arena.

The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 in Mandi will be held on June 1.

With quote inputs from PTI.