Kangana Ranaut’s remarks on farmers’ protests: BJP expresses disagreement; says she has been directed to not make such remarks in future
The HinduThe BJP on Monday distanced itself from the controversial remarks on the farmers’ agitation made by its MP and actor Kangana Ranaut, declaring that she was not authorised to make such statements on behalf of the party. In a statement released by the BJP, it said: “The statement made by BJP MP Kangana Ranaut in the context of the farmers’ movement is not the opinion of the party. In a post on X, Mr. Gandhi said, “The BJP MP calling farmers, who sacrificed 700 of their comrades during the 378-day marathon struggle, as rapists and representatives of foreign forces is another proof of the BJP’s anti-farmer policy and intentions.” “These shameful anti-farmer statements are a gross insult to the farmers of the entire country, including western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, which cannot be accepted under any circumstances,” he added. Painful, says SKM The Samyukt Kisan Morcha, the umbrella organisation of about 400 farmers’ outfits, said it was “extremely painful but not surprising” that Ms. Ranaut had taken the extreme step of calling Indian farmers “murderers, rapists, conspirators, and anti-national”. It added that “not a single person was killed in any violence caused by the farmers’ movement during the entire period of farmers’ struggle around the capital city but 736 farmers sacrificed their lives, including five of them who were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri.” The SKM demanded that that Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself apologise to the farmers of India for the “reprehensible and untruthful” comments made by an MP of his party.