'Personal statement': BJP rejects Kangana Ranaut's controversial 'farm laws' remark

Speaking to reporters in her Lok Sabha constituency of Mandi on Tuesday, Kangana said the laws, scrapped in November 2021, "should be brought back... (and) farmers themselves should demand it".

"I know this will be controversial... but I feel the farm laws that were repealed should be brought back. The farmers themselves should demand it. They are a pillar of strength for the nation's development and I want to appeal to them - demand the laws back for your own good," she said.

Reacting to the comment, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said, "It is Kangana Ranaut's personal statement. Neither Kangana Ranaut is authorised to speak on behalf of BJP, nor her remark represents the party's stand on farm laws. We reject the statement."

After BJP distanced itself, Kangana posted on X, " Absolutely, my views on Farmers Laws are personal and they don’t represent party’s stand on those Bills. Thanks."

A furious Congress tweeted a video of her statement and vowed: "these black laws will (never be brought back now)... no matter how hard Modi and his MPs try".

"More than 750 farmers were martyred... only then did the Modi government wake up and these black laws were withdrawn. Now BJP MPs are planning to bring them back... but Congress is with the farmers," party spokesperson Supriya Shrinate responded, pointing to next week's Haryana election.

The actress-MP has already been reprimanded once by the BJP after her earlier remarks on the farmers' protests led to controversy and a scathing attack from Congress.

The party rebuke included a summon by party's national president Jagat Prakash Nadda and a clarification that her comments do not represent the BJP's views.

Her latest jab comes days before the Assembly elections in Haryana, from where lakhs of farmers marched on Delhi and participated in multiple blockades against the city.

The BJP is eyeing to win the state for a third consecutive time but is aware unhappy farmers could derail that hope.

Kangana, whose latest film Emergency is locked in certification stage, has been a strong critic of the farmers' protest in 2020, and as the protests were gathering steam, she allegedly misidentified a woman farmer from Punjab and called her Bilkis Bano.