Modi Follower Kangana Ranaut Gets BJP Ticket

SHIMLA, (IANS) – The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on March 24 announced actor Kangana Ranaut as its candidate from the Mandi seat in Himachal Pradesh.

After Kangana’s name was announced from Mandi, she said she was elated to officially join the party.

“My beloved Bharat and Bhartiya Janta’s own party, Bharatiya Janta party (BJP) has always had my unconditional support, today the national leadership of BJP has announced me as their Lok Sabha candidate from my birthplace Himachal Pradesh, Mandi (constituency) I abide by the high command’s decision on contesting Lok Sabha polls. I feel honored and elated to officially join the party. I look forward to being a worthy karyakarta and a reliable public servant,” she posted on X.

Ranaut was only 17 when acted in ‘Gangster: A Love Story’ (2006). The role got Kangana instant fame. Hailed as a “remarkable find” and honored with the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut, she instantly began her dalliance with headlines.

For a rebel child who shocked her family — her mother was a schoolteacher and her father a businessman with roots in Bhambla village, Mandi district it was indeed a dream start in Bollywood, whose fierce critic and conscience keeper she later became.

For the great-granddaughter of a Himachal Pradesh Congress MLA, and granddaughter of an IAS officer, it was also a bold career move that did not initially go down well with the family.

Kangana’s career graph has had its share of hits and misses. Her Bollywood journey, however, was not without its pitfalls. Initially, her poor command of English became the subject of the object of derision in the industry, especially among its elite. Then, she had a controversial affair with Aditya Pancholi that turned out to be an abusive relationship and left her emotionally scarred.

And then, even as he was recovering from a failed relationship with her ‘Raaz: The Mystery Continues’ co-star Adhyayan Suman, her ‘Kites’ and ‘Krrish’ 3 co-star Hrithik Roshan filed a lawsuit against Kangana, accusing her of cyberstalking and harassment. The case was closed because of lack of evidence.

After ‘Queen’, Kangana’s career also yo-yoed from box-office failures such as ‘Rangoon’ and Hansal Mehta’s Gujarati crime comedy, ‘Simran’, to her moderately successful Rani of Jhansi biopic, ‘Manikarnika’, which marred by the walkout of co-star Sonu Sood during production, and the sports drama, ‘Panga’, which was about a female kabaddi star. Both films won her critical acclaim and national awards and established herself as a champion of female-first films. But thereafter, her films just stopped doing well at the box office.

Kangana, however, stayed in the headlines. In 2017, for her public falling out with influential filmmaker, Karan Johar, whom she accused of nepotism. Then in 2020, when she accused certain unnamed film personalities of having “systematically sabotaged” Sushant Singh Rajput’s career, driving him to commit suicide.

Slowly but steadily, Kangana, a follower of Swami Vivekananda, emerged as the most visible, spokesperson for the BJP within the film industry. And UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was the first BJP leader to recognize Kangana’s potential and appointed her the brand ambassador for one of his flagship development programs.

Kangana’s outspoken opposition to privilege dictating people’s place in their professions and the snobbery of the English-speaking class, her impressive social media following, and her consistent support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, make her most suited for a bigger presence in the BJP.

The party seems to have recognized this fact by rewarding her with the Mandi ticket.