After her recent remarks on the farmers' protests stoked a controversy, Bharatiya Janata Party MP and Bollywood Actor Kangana Ranaut said Wednesday that she was reprimanded by the party and will choose her words carefully henceforth. The parliamentarian from Mandi had said in an interview earlier this week that the famers' protest over the now-scrapped farm reform laws could have escalated into a Bangladesh-like crisis. The saffron party had also distanced itself from her remarks clarifying that she wasn't authorised or permitted to speak on the party's policy matters on its behalf.
"I was reprimanded by the party leadership and that's fine with me. I do not think I am the final voice of the party. I am not that crazy or stupid to believe that. I do believe in the guidance of my superiors, " she said in an interview with India Today.
However, she also expressed that her intention was not perceived the way she meant it to be. "I do have a long way to go. I believe that if I have genuinely hurt the party's cause and its position or policy, there is nobody who could be more hurt than me," Ranaut stated.
Underlining that she would be more careful with her words in future, the BJP MP said: "I am looking forward to being more careful with my words and aligning to the party's policies. Because for the BJP, hum rahe ya na rahe, Bharat rehna chahiye [the country is more important than an individual]."
Kangana Ranaut's Controversial Remarks On Farmers' Protests That Stirred A Row
In the video of an interview, which she also re-posted on social media platform X, Kangana Ranaut claimed that during the farmers' protest "bodies were seen hanging and rapes were taking place". She further blamed "foreign powers" and "vested interests" for prolonging the protests despite the rollback of the farm laws.
She stated: "What happened in Bangladesh, it could have easily happened here too. There is a conspiracy by foreign powers and these filmy people thrive on it. They don’t care if the country goes to the dogs."
This led to sharp criticism from the opposition with Congress leaders including the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi slamming BJP for "disrespecting farmers" and called the statement made by Ranaut as a "proof" of the party's "anti-farmer policies and intentions". "These shameful anti-farmer remarks are a grave insult to the farmers of Western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, and the entire country, which cannot be accepted under any circumstances," he wrote on X.