Farmer remark out of line, Nadda ticks off Kangana

New Delhi, August 29

Days after she made objectionable remarks against protesting farmers, actor Kangana Ranaut, the Lok Sabha MP from Mandi, on Thursday met BJP president JP Nadda, who asked her to honour the party discipline and refrain from speaking out of line on sensitive policy matters.

The BJP reined in the actor a little more today after earlier reprimanding her through a rare letter in which the party dissociated itself from the MP’s remarks and instructed her to avoid commenting on policy matters such as farmers’ issues.

“The BJP’s approach is sabka saath, sabka vikas, sabka vishwas and that is our guiding principle. Anything stated to the contrary is not our view,” said a BJP source on Kangana’s statements against farmers — a development having the potential to harm the party’s prospects in poll-bound Haryana. Nadda met Kangana minutes before the Haryana core committee of the BJP assembled at his residence to draft panels of candidates for the state elections.

Later during the day, these panels were presented for final approval to the BJP central election committee, which met under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The CEC meeting was attended by Nadda, Home Minister Amit Shah and the top Haryana BJP brass — CM Nayab Saini, former CM ML Khattar, Union Minister Rao Inderjit, former Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij, Haryana BJP election in-charge Dharmendra Pradhan and Haryana BJP in-charge Satish Poonia among others.

Earlier today at his meeting with Kangana, Nadda is learnt to have reminded her about Modi’s serial admonitions to MPs on the needlessness of irrelevant public utterances. It is further learnt that Kangana was asked not to speak on political and policy matters while promoting her work.

Kangana has been on a promotion spree for her film “Emergency” in which she plays late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Outrage over Punjab ex-MP’s comment

SAD (Amritsar) president and former MP Simranjit Singh Mann on Thursday triggered outrage among women organisations by making “derogatory remarks” in Karnal against BJP MP Kangana Ranaut.

Actor at it again: Reposts tweet

Hours after meeting Nadda, Kangana reposted a tweet by one Nilesh Waghela who had asked if what she stated about farmers' protests was wrong. He had also posted news clippings from the days of the stir.

Saini may fight from Ladwa, Vij Ambala

The BJP CEC meeting, which lasted around three hours, is learnt to have discussed all 90 Haryana seats and cleared nearly 55 names. CM Nayab Singh Saini is likely to be fielded from Ladwa, former state Home Minister Anil Vij from Ambala Cantt and minister Rao Inderjit’s daughter Arti Rao from Ateli. The BJP has a general policy of dropping one-third of the sitting MLAs and MPs to beat anti-incumbency. Winnability would be the criterion to pick candidates, said BJP sources.