
New Delhi: BJP President J.P. Nadda has once again stepped in to salvage the situation amid the row sparked by Kangana Ranaut, the party’s MP from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi, which is reeling from the impact of cloudburst, landslides and flash floods.
Ranaut’s initial absence from her constituency, and then the ‘no cabinet, no funds’ remark during a visit on 6 July, have become the latest flashpoint between the ruling Congress in the state and the BJP.
On Wednesday, accompanied by ex-chief minister and state assembly Leader of Opposition Jairam Thakur, and Himachal BJP chief Rajeev Bindal, Union Minister Nadda met with people impacted by the heavy rainfall in Mandi, which has been among the worst hit areas across the state. Ranaut was not part of his entourage despite being local MP.
To counter the impact of the row, the Bharatiya Janata Party has stepped up the engagement in relief work in Mandi, with the entire state unit involved, and Thakur overseeing the efforts. Nachan MLA Vinod Kumar and Karsog MLA Deep Raj have been given the responsibility to help affected people. Bindal has also been visiting affected areas, and Nadda, who was in the state only a week ago to celebrate his father’s 100th birthday, came back Wednesday.
According to the State Disaster Management Authority, 85 people have lost their lives in Himachal Pradesh so far this monsoon. Of these, 54 have been attributed to rain-related incidents like landslides, cloudbursts, flash floods, etc, while 31 died in road accidents. Mandi has reported 17 deaths from rain-related events, besides massive loss of livestock and property.
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How the current row unfolded
The latest controversy stirred by Ranaut began after cloudbursts and landslides hit Kullu and Mandi districts in the last week of June as she invited criticism for not visiting her constituency to take stock of the situation or issuing any statement regarding the matter. On 2 July, in response to an X post slamming her, she wrote, “2-3 days ago I was on #mandiconstituency tour, even in clear weather many stones and rocks fell on my car as you can see glasses got cracks and car got multiple dents, right now is not the time to travel to Himachal…,” going on to take a dig at the X user.
2-3 days ago I was on #mandiconstituency tour, even in clear weather many stones and rocks fell on my car as you can see glasses got cracks and car got multiple dents, right now is not the time to travel to Himachal, like naughty Himachali best place to be at is your keyboard,… pic.twitter.com/2PhUsgeWeQ
— Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) July 2, 2025
Congress reacted to her remark, calling it insensitive and calling her out for not visiting Mandi. As the matter escalated on social media, BJP immediately sent Thakur to take stock of the relief efforts in Mandi and its villages, stationing him in the area since. When he was asked by local media persons on 3 July about Ranaut’s absence, he remarked, “Those who don’t care, I don’t want to talk about them…”
However, a day later, Ranaut posted on X: “It is heartbreaking to see massive flood devastation in Himachal almost every year now, I tried reaching to flood affected areas in Seraj and other areas in Mandi, but advised by respected leader of opposition Shri @jairamthakurbjp ji to wait until the connectivity and reach to the affected areas are restored…”
She finally reached Mandi on 6 July, accompanied by Thakur. When a local resident in Seraj confronted her, accusing her of visiting for the sake of taking photos to show her presence, she said to media persons as she laughed, “Whether it’s disaster relief or the disaster itself – I don’t have any official cabinet. I have my two brothers who are always with me. That’s my cabinet… I do not have any funds for disaster relief or hold any Cabinet post. MPs have work that is limited to Parliament.”
आज मंडी लोक सभा के नाचन विधान सभा के आपदा प्रभावित क्षेत्र पंगलियूर का दौरा किया,
पंगलियूर गांव में आई बाढ़ त्रासदी में बह गए 2 परिवारों के 9 लोग , जिसमें
बाढ़ में बहे 5 लोग अभी भी लापता हैं। इस संकटीय परिस्थिति में पीड़ित परिवार से मिल कर उनके दुख दर्द में शामिल हुई। भगवान… pic.twitter.com/2jyMDTpqBa— Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) July 7, 2025
The remark, seen as bringing more embarrassment for the party, led to further escalation of the row. Calling the statement “laughable”, Himachal congress president Pratibha singh said, “Union government gives Rs five crore in funds to one MP, and in five years, it becomes Rs 25 crore for the Member of Parliament to spend in their constituency. Kangana can use these funds in affected areas, but she says she has no funds and cabinet… There is no need of a cabinet ministry.”
After the rival party’s attack, Kangana said that Congress expects her to do the chief minister and PWD minister’s job, referring to Vikramaditya Singh, who had contested against her in Lok Sabha polls, and now holds the public works portfolio in CM Sukhvinder Sukhu’s cabinet.
A Himachal BJP leader told ThePrint that she is “unfit” for politics. “She had no interest in politics, she herself has admitted in several interviews. She thought politics is a powerful job, and she would enjoy power and limelight like Bollywood. But politics is not Bollywood.”
The leader added, “People continuously complain about her absence in her constituency, and the party, or jai ram thakur has to fill her shoes because it’s his home district.”
BJP Mandi district president Nihal Chand said, “We requested her to spare some funds under the MPLADS (Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme) for a few village schools and roads, but she refused to spend any on disaster-related work saying that it was the state government’s job.”
However, Rakesh Jamwal, the party’s state general secretary, defended her, saying, “She reached there after the situation normalised, and it’s moreover the state government’s responsibility. As far as the party is concerned, the entire party is engaged in relief and restoration work.”
Previous controversies
This is not the first time that Ranaut’s statements have put the BJP in a tough spot. In a podcast interview aired earlier this month on YouTube, the MP said that she was not enjoying politics. She said, “I’m getting a hang of it. I wouldn’t say that I am enjoying it (politics). It’s a very different kind of work, more like social service. This hasn’t been my background. I’ve never thought of serving people.”
She added that people come to her with “panchayat-level problems”. “I’ve fought for women’s rights, but that’s different… Somebody’s naali (drain) is broken, and I’m like, ‘But I am an MP and these people are coming to me with panchayat-level problems.’ They don’t care. When they see you, they come to you with problems like MLAs, broken roads, and I tell them that’s a state government issue, and they say, ‘You have money, you use your own money.’”
She also said that she doesn’t have the passion or inclination to become the prime minister of the country. “Social work has never been my background. I have lived a very selfish kind of life. I want to have a big house, a big car, I want to have diamonds, I want to look good.”
Back in May, when US President Donald Trump had told Apple CEO Tim Cook that he didn’t want the tech giant building products in India, Ranaut had slammed Trump in an X post, and compared him to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
She had written: “What could be reason of this love loss? He is American president but world’s most loved leader is Indian prime minister. Trump’s second term but Indian prime minister’s third term. Undoubtedly Trump is alpha male but our PM is sab alpha make ka Baap. What do you think? This is personal jealousy or diplomatic insecurity?”
However, Nadda pulled her up, asking her to delete the tweet, to which she obliged, admitting the same on X.
Even last year, during the elections in Haryana—where the farmers’ protests have been a politically sensitive issue and Sikhs make up more than five percent of the population—Ranaut said in an interview to a Hindi daily that during the farmers’ agitation of 2020-2021, “bodies were hanging and rapes were taking place”, and that there was a “plan to create a Bangladesh-like situation in India”.
Her comments had triggered a political storm, prompting BJP leaders in Haryana and Punjab to register their concerns before the high command. The Opposition labelled her remarks as a “gross insult to farmers”.
Also in August 2024, she called for the three repealed farm laws to be brought back. “I know this will be controversial… but I feel the repealed farm laws should be brought back. The farmers themselves should demand it. They are pillars of strength for the nation’s development and I want to appeal to them—demand the law back for your own good,” she had said. However, the party had distanced itself from her statement, and asked her to not speak on sensitive matters.
Later, on Gandhi Jayanti last year, she had posted an Instagram story seemingly downplaying Gandhi’s role in the freedom struggle. “Desh ke pita nahi, desh ke to laal hote hai. Dhanye hai Bharat maa ke ye laal (The country does not have fathers; it has sons. Blessed are these sons of Mother India),” she had written alongside a picture of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, whose birthday also falls on the same day. The post was criticised by party leaders.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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