Shimla: Mandi Lok Sabha constituency in Himachal Pradesh is witnessing a high-octane electoral contest with the ‘beef-eating’ controversy involving two high profile candidates, BJP’s Kangana Ranaut and state minister Vikramaditya Singh of the Congress, refusing to die down. The latest round of this verbal duel was spurred by Singh’s remark that temples Ranaut visited on the campaign trail should be “cleaned”, given her “eating habits”.
At a public meeting in Drang, Singh said Monday, “Several things about her (Kangana) eating habits are there on social media. This is defaming our deity culture. Temples which she visited need to be cleaned. This is what several people — who want to protect the deity culture — are saying.”
Singh, the state public works and urban development minister, was making a reference to unverified claims on social media that Ranaut had at some point in the past eaten beef or red meat. The actor making her political debut had denied these claims in a post on X (formerly Twitter) last month.
Responding to Singh without naming him, Ranaut said in an oblique reference to the Congress party symbol in Pangi Tuesday, “Khooni panje ko jala kar uski raakh se pradesh ko saaf karna hai.” (We must burn down the bloody hand and use its ashes to clean the state)
Later the same day, in another public meeting in Siraj, Ranaut accused the Congress of corruption, calling it “choron ki party” (party of thieves) and Vikramaditya Singh “maha chor” (big-time thief).
“Vikramaditya Singh is out on bail. We must not vote for corrupt people,” she told supporters in Siraj, which is represented in the state assembly by the Leader of the Opposition and former chief minister Jairam Thakur.
सिराज की धरती पर आप सभी का जोश और उमंग देखकर उत्साहित हूं। आपके साथ और आशीर्वाद से मंडी में कमल खिलेगा और देश को एक बार फिर मोदी जी का नेतृत्व मिलेगा।
इस प्यार के लिए सादर आभार 🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/gEJDUt8Yrl
— Kangana Ranaut (Modi Ka Parivar) (@KanganaTeam) May 21, 2024
Asked to comment on the latest remarks made against him by Kangana Ranaut, Vikramaditya Singh told ThePrint Tuesday that “Himachal will not tolerate such language”.
“There is a limit to everything. We are political opponents but we should respect each other. Moreover, elections should be contested on public issues. We should spell out our vision. But unfortunately, the BJP candidate has resorted to filthy language, which is unacceptable even to BJP cadres.”
Asked about his remarks about the need to ‘clean’ temples Ranaut visited, Singh said, “This is the talk of the town. The Dev Samaj is talking about it. I don’t know anything about her eating habits. I saw some interviews. And if that was true, it would tarnish Sanatan sanskriti (culture).”
Himachal Pradesh-based political analyst M.P.S. Rana told ThePrint that this is the first time that election campaigns in the state have taken this shape. “I have never seen candidates attacking each other with such words. Daily there are some new statements or words. People in the rallies may have been enjoying it but people of the state are not appreciative of it.”
Also Read: How BJP is working to keep Mandi LS candidate Kangana Ranaut away from controversies
Vikramaditya vs Kangana: War of words
One of Himachal Pradesh’s four Lok Sabha seats, all of which will go to the polls in the seventh and last phase on 1 June, Mandi has been much talked about this election season since the Congress fielded former chief minister Virbhadra Singh’s son Vikramaditya against BJP’s Ranaut from the seat.
The fight took an ugly turn when a distasteful post targeting Ranaut was shared from the Instagram and X accounts of Congress Working Committee (CWC) member Supriya Shrinate, who is also chairperson of the party’s social media and digital platforms wing. The BJP took the cue to rally behind Ranaut and staged protests against the Congress.
The actor, too, targeted the Congress and said the attack against her — a “daughter of Mandi” — was an attack on the honour of all women of Mandi.
Though Vikramaditya Singh later referred to Kangana as his elder sister and said he would not let anyone demean her in such a manner, Kangana in another political meeting in Mandi dubbed him “chhota pappu”. When the Congress objected to her remarks, Ranaut clarified that Singh was like her younger brother and that she had made the remark out of affection for him.
The war of words escalated when Singh alleged that Kangana had consumed beef. “Those who eat beef are contesting elections from Dev Bhoomi, which is a matter of concern for our culture. This has nothing to do with politics,” he wrote in a Facebook post on 6 April.
On her part, Ranaut dismissed the claims saying she was a “proud Hindu”.
“I don’t consume beef or any other kind of red meat, it is shameful that completely baseless rumours are being spread about me, I have been advocating and promoting yogic and Ayurvedic way of life for decades now such tactics won’t work to tarnish my image,” she wrote in a post on X.
Singh retorted by saying that Ranaut herself had admitted in an interview that she had consumed beef at some point in the past. A few days later, he told reporters in April that Ranaut would not win this election and that he ‘prays to Lord Rama to give her wisdom’.
Referring to his statement, Ranaut while addressing a public meeting in Singh’s home assembly segment on 1 May said, “If former CM Virbhadra Singh was alive today he would have scolded Vikramaditya for disrespectful statements against me and would have asked him to apologise.”
In another public meeting at Karsog on 3 May, she launched a fresh attack on Singh calling him “Shehzada” (prince) and alleging that he did not treat his wife well. Singh in an interview later openly talked about his strained relationship with his wife. “We are settling it amicably,” he added.
Vikramaditya’s mother Pratibha Singh, the Himachal Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) president and sitting MP from Mandi, too waded into the debate when she said at a village in Rampur assembly segment on 1 May that the people coming out to see Ranaut address public meetings wanted to see who this “haseen pari” (beautiful fairy) is.
Asked about her remarks, Pratibha Singh told ThePrint, “I have made any remarks against her (Kangana) in bad taste. We are fighting this election on issues. We have nothing to do with what she eats, wears or does.”
However, BJP state president Rajiv Bindal alleged that the Congress was unable to “digest that a woman from an ordinary background who made her name in Bollywood with her hard work is challenging the prince”.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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