Himachal Assembly adopts resolution to condemn Kangana's remarks, AAP protests in Haryana
Shimla/Chandigarh (PTI): The opposition on Tuesday stepped up its attack on BJP MP Kangana Ranaut over her remarks on farmers' protests with the Himachal Pradesh Assembly adopting a Congress-backed resolution to condemn her comments and AAP holding protests at several places in Haryana.
The MP from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh had posted a clip of her interview with Hindi daily Dainik Bhaskar in which she suggested that a "Bangladesh-like situation" could have erupted in India but for the country's strong leadership. She then alleged that bodies were hanging and rapes were taking place during the farmers' protest against the now-repealed three farm laws.
She alleged the involvement of China and the US in the "conspiracy".
Kangana's remarks triggered heated exchanges in the assembly of her Congress-ruled home state as the House adopted a resolution condemning the remarks.
With Haryana going to polls on October 1, the opposition targeted the ruling BJP over the issue. The Aam Aadmi Party's Haryana unit staged protests in the state against her remarks, with a party leader saying her statement indicates the BJP's "mindset" towards farmers. The AAP leaders and workers held protests at various places including Jind, Yamunanagar, and Panchkula.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi too hit out at Kangana expecting her to apologise for the remarks and the BJP to express regrets over it.
"Kangana Ranaut has not apologised for her statement against farmers. BJP's statement expresses no regret about the charges made by her against farmers. She is a BJP member & MP, if no action taken against her it's fair to say that BJP is only paying lip service to the farmers," she said in a post on X.
In the Himachal Assembly, as soon as the opposition BJP staged a walkout over the rejection of its adjournment motion on the law and order situation, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Harshwardhan Chauhan said the remarks of Kangana are insulting to the entire farm community of the country. After the BJP members returned to the House, he asked them to clear their stand on the issue.
Members from both sides started raising slogans as Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur said Kangana's remarks were personal and it is not the view of the party.
The BJP had on Monday denounced the film actor for her disparaging remarks on the farmers' agitation, as it expressed disagreement with her views and made it clear that she is neither permitted nor authorised to comment on the party's policy matters.
Thakur said the BJP is with the party's high command and said according to the convention, discussions cannot be held on a person who is not present in the House.
Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu supported the resolution and said the BJP should have come forward to discuss the issue.
Supporting the resolution, Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri said the farmers are furious over the remarks of Kangana and the BJP should seriously consider its conduct.
Revenue Minister Jagat Singh Negi said an FIR should be registered against the actor as her remarks can create a law and order situation.
Kuldeep Singh Rathore of the Congress said Kangana is habitual of making ridiculous remarks.
Pacifying the agitated members, Speaker Kuldeep Singh Pathania said a resolution condemning the remarks of Kangana has been passed by the House and there is no need for further discussions.
Himachal Pradesh PWD Minister Vikramaditya Singh and her mother Pratibha Singh, who is the state Congress president, hit out at Kangana, terming her remarks on the farmers' protest as "reckless and misinformed".
The Congress leaders, in two separate statements, condemned Ranaut's remarks and said they were a grave insult to the farmers.
Kangana had defeated Vikramaditya in the Lok Sabha election from Mandi.
Vikramaditya, in a statement, said, "Her baseless allegations questioning the role of USA and China in the farmer unrest are ludicrous, not grounded in reality, and showcase her intellectual bankruptcy... As a member of the treasury benches and an elected representative of the Mandi parliamentary segment, Kangana Ranaut should be restrained while speaking on such sensitive issues.
"It is noteworthy that the Union Government, particularly the Ministry of External Affairs, should respond to her claims, which undermine the nation's foreign policy," he said.
The minister said such statements against a particular segment of society, namely farmers, are an insult to their struggles and sacrifices and added that the statement is especially unacceptable given that the "black laws" have been rolled back by the prime minister.
"We demand an apology from her for her insensitive and divisive remarks," he said.
Himachal Pradesh Congress president and former MP Pratibha Singh said even though the BJP has expressed disagreement with Kangana's remarks in one of its statements, the party's refusal to apologise to the farmers of the country for the "insulting statement exposes its double standards".
The Haryana unit of AAP held demonstrations at various places with state senior vice president Anurag Dhanda leading a protest in the Yamunanagar district. The protesters carrying placards raised slogans against the BJP government.
Haryana AAP president Sushil Gupta dubbed Ranaut's remarks "shameful". He alleged the BJP hated farmers because they forced them to roll back the "black" farm laws.
Kangana has made such statements on farmers earlier also, Gupta said, and alleged it has been the "mentality" of the BJP that those who abuse farmers are rewarded with posts.
Her remarks indicate the "mindset" of the BJP towards farmers, he further alleged.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said Ranaut's comments were "deliberate" and would be used as a "shield" so that the top leadership of the BJP is not blamed for its imminent defeat in the Haryana Assembly polls.
"This is the BJP's script, which is being read out by an actress as dialogue on the instructions of a top director. When an ordinary politician understands that using abusive language about the farmers' movement in a farmers' state will harm their prospects, the BJP's Chanakya does not understand this?" Yadav, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, said in a post in Hindi on X.
"The real truth of this episode is that such a thing must have been said deliberately so that the statement of the actress can be cited as the reason for the defeat that has already been decided in Haryana and the top leadership is not blamed for it. This is not a statement but a 'word shield' to protect someone," he added.
Thousands of farmers from Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and other places had held an agitation at Delhi's borders for several months over the now-repealed farm laws.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
