Congress Drops Supriya Shrinate From Lok Sabha Polls Amid Row Over Remark On Kangana Ranaut

The Congress on Wednesday dropped Supriya Shrinate as a candidate from the Lok Sabha constituency she contested in 2019 amid outrage over her remark actor Kangana Ranaut, Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) candidate from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi for the general polls.

Congress on Wednesday released its eighth list of 14 candidates for the Lok Sabha elections, fielding Virendra Chaudhary from Maharajganj where Shrinate had contested from in 2019 but lost to BJP's Pankaj Chaudhary.

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Shrinate's Remark On Kangana Ranaut

Days after Kangana Ranaut was named the BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi, the Congress kicked up a proverbial storm after derogatory comments about the actor and her constituency were posted on the social media handles of its leaders Supriya Shrinate and HS Ahir.

Shrinate allegedly made objectionable remarks about Kangana Ranaut in a now-deleted Instagram post. Ahir, state joint co-ordinator of Kisan Congress, also made derogatory remarks against Kangana Ranaut.

Shrinate clarified that many people have access to her Facebook and Instagram accounts, and someone from them made an extremely inappropriate post.

"As soon as I came to know, I deleted that post. Everyone who knows me, also knows very well that I can never make personal and indecent comments towards any woman. I wanted to know how this happened," she said.

Cong Has Always Been An Appalling Party For Me, Says Kangana

Asserting that she has a "glorious right-wing personality", Kangana Ranaut on Wednesday accused the Congress of supporting nepotism and specifically targeted its leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi.

The actor, fielded by the BJP for the Mandi constituency in Himachal Pradesh in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, also said the Congress has "always been an appalling party for me".

She said the opposition party represents something she has long fought against in her film career.

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"The Congress has always been an appalling party for me. The nepotism in the party has been hugely problematic for me because I was a target of the same system in my (film) industry. I had condemned it openly, I fought against it. Something that was exploiting me... Nepotism, groupism, dynastic politics... I despise this party," news agency PTI quoted Kangana Ranaut as saying at an Times Now Summit.