Actor Kangana Ranaut, the BJP’s candidate from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi, was shown black flags by locals and Congress workers in Lahaul and Spiti’s Kaza today. The state BJP alleged that stones were also thrown at her carcade.
Congress workers raised slogans – “Kangana, go back” and “Kangana Vangana nahin chalegi (Kangana won’t work for us)” and were reportedly enraged over her remarks on Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama in April last year.
Ms Ranaut had tweeted a meme featuring the Dalai Lama with the caption, “The Dalai Lama receives a warm welcome at the White House”.
#WATCH | Himachal Pradesh | Congress workers showed black flags and raised slogans against BJP Mandi candidate Kangana Ranaut during her visit to Kaza of Lahaul & Spiti district today
Kangana Ranaut along with former CM & LoP Jairam Thakur addressed a public rally in Kaza today.… pic.twitter.com/XVOLNnZOAU
— ANI (@ANI) May 20, 2024
The photoshopped picture in the tweet showed the Dalai Lama sticking his tongue out as he posed with Joe Biden with a comment – “Both of them have the same illness, definitely they could be friends”.
Following this, a group of Buddhists staged a dharna outside her office in Mumbai.
She later apologised saying she didn’t mean to hurt anyone, and that it was a harmless joke about Biden being friends with the Dalai Lama.
Leader of the Opposition in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly Jai Ram Thakur, who accompanied Kangana Ranaut to Kaza to campaign for the BJP, alleged that Congress workers tried to disturb the party’s meeting and threw stones at their carcade while they were returning.
“It is unfortunate that for the first time, permission was given to hold a parallel rally at the venue to the Congress where prior permission was already granted to the BJP to hold the rally. Efforts were made to disturb our rally and the Congress workers raised shameful slogans, stopped our carcade, and pelted stones, injuring one person,” he said.
Mr Thakur added that they go for campaigning all over the state but such things have happened for the first time, which shows the Congress’s “frustration” and that they would take up the issue with the Election Commission.
Lahaul and Spiti SP Mayank Chowdhary told news agency PTI that BJP and Congress workers came face to face but there was no clash and nobody was injured. However, a worker sprained his leg, he added.
Bhishan Shashni, Congress election coordinator for Lahaul and Spiti, claimed that party workers were peacefully protesting but several people, hurt by Ms Ranaut’s remarks about the Tibetan spiritual leader, joined the protest.
Earlier, Congress candidate from Mandi Vikramaditya Singh asked why Kangana Ranaut did not visit Spiti and returned from Reckong Peo and alleged that the actor was afraid she would be shown black flags for her remarks against the Dalai Lama.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
