Oppn slams party; SKM, AIKS demand ‘apology

Chandigarh/New Delhi, Aug 26

The BJP today distanced itself from party MP Kangana Ranaut’s remarks on farmers’ protests. The party said she had been directed to refrain from making such statements.

In a video statement on X, Kangana had stirred a controversy by suggesting that the farmers’ protests could have led to a Bangladesh-like situation in the country. She had alleged that “bodies were hanging” and “rapes took place” during the protest while also mentioning the role of “foreign powers” behind the goings-on.

The BJP said: “The statement made by Kangana on the farmers’ movement is not the party’s opinion. The BJP expresses its disagreement with the statement. She is neither permitted nor authorised to make statements on the party’s policy matters.”

The statement added that she had been directed against making any such statements. “The BJP is committed to following the principles of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas and Sabka Prayas’ and social harmony,” it said.

Meanwhile, the opposition trained its guns on the BJP and farmers’ bodies demanded an “unconditional apology” from Kangana.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said people would give a befitting reply to the BJP in the elections. She added, “The BJP must explain if the comments were Kangana’s own or endorsed by the party. Also, she suggested that America and China were behind the protests. Has the country weakened so much under Prime Minister Narendra Modi that foreign powers are creating unrest?”

Farmers’ bodies SKM and AIKS, too, condemned the statement and sought an apology failing which they threatened to take to the streets and file complaints against her.

Reacting to the controversial statement, Rajya Sabha MP and Congress leader Randeep Surjewala, on X, questioned if  the words spoken by Kangana were her own or written by someone else. “Why does the BJP hate the food providers of the country so much? The BJP has always lied, conspired and tortured our food providers and, yet again, a BJP MP has made absurd allegations against them,” he said.

AAP MP and national general secretary Sandeep Pathak said Kangana’s words had exposed the “anti-farmer face” of the BJP and that the allegations of rape and murder were “blatant lies”, adding that it was a conspiracy to defame the farmers.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said not only had the Modi government failed to fulfil the promises made to the farmers, but its propaganda machinery was constantly engaged in insulting the farmers.

“The BJP MP calling the farmers, who lost 700 fellow farmers during the 378-day marathon struggle, rapists and representatives of foreign forces is another proof of the BJP’s anti-farmer policy and intentions,” Rahul said on X, adding that the video by the BJP MP was a grave insult to the farmers of the entire country, including western Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab.

Stating that INDIA group was committed to giving a legal guarantee on the MSP to the farmers, Rahul said the government committee formed while withdrawing the farmer movement on the three farm Bills was “in cold storage” and the government had failed to clear its stand on the MSP.