INDIA VOTES 2024: On electoral debut, Kangana Ranaut plays role of ‘Himachal ki beti’ to the hilt

Tribune News Service

Pratibha Chauhan

Shimla, April 3

BJP candidate and actress Kangana Ranaut making her electoral debut as BJP candidate from Mandi Lok Sabha seat can be seen adorning varied Himachali caps, eating traditional feast ‘dham’ with villagers and dancing at religious functions with women folk.

Kangana, who hails from Bhambla village in Sarkaghat Assembly constituency in Mandi district, has said on a number of occasions that she was keen to try her hand at politics. Having built her house in Manali, she has been living in Mumbai for the past more than 15 years, where she struggled hard to create a name for herself despite being an outsider.

Drawing big crowds

• With a charismatic personality and the glamour quotient that goes hand in hand with any Bollywood star, the cine ‘Queen’ Kangana Ranaut accompanied by the local BJP workers and Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur by her side is drawing big crowds
• Known for her off the cuff remarks not just in Bollywood but also on political and national issues, she is making concerted efforts not to court controversy during the campaign which could dent her prospects

The trappings of a film actress are hard to do away right at the outset of her career as a ‘neta’ as she campaigns dressed in crisp cotton saris and suits and the quintessential white pearl necklace and earrings. It is more than obvious that Kangana is desperately trying to look and behave as any other politician in Himachal politics but it seems it will take a while for her to don the mantle of a normal leader, sans the glamour akin to a heroine.

With a charismatic personality and the glamour quotient that goes hand in hand with any Bollywood star, the cine ‘Queen’ accompanied by the local BJP workers and Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur by her side is drawing big crowds. Known for her off the cuff remarks not just in Bollywood, but also on political and national issues, she is making concerted efforts not to court controversy during the campaign which could dent her prospects.

“Tuhan aida ni sochna, Kangana koi heroine/star hai, tuhan aida sochna Kangana tuhan re beti hai, behan hai,” she says in chaste Mandyali. Even though it is uncertain whether the election will be between reel Queen and real Queen Pratibha Singh, who is a three-time former MP and who hails from the erstwhile Bushair royal family, the battle lines are clearly drawn.

Minister Vikramaditya Singh, son of Pratibha and former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, has not spared an opportunity to invoke to the voters to be cautious while electing a heroine as their MP.

With cap politics in Himachal having great significance, she can be seen wearing the trademark green Bushairi cap on one day of the campaign, while on another day she wears the multi-coloured Kullu cap. Green cap was the trademark of six-time Congress Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, while two-time BJP CM Prem Kumar Dhumal stuck to the maroon velvet cap. Not to miss out, she also chose to wear the maroon cap.

With a week into the campaign from one of the toughest and area wise biggest Lok Sabha seat of Mandi, which extends from Bharmour in Chamba to Kinnaur and Lahaul Spiti, along the international border with China, she is trying to play up the image of ‘Himachal ki beti’ being run down by Congress. Remarks by Congress spokesperson Supriya Srinate on the girls of Mandi have become her biggest defence as she asserts that people of the area will give a befitting reply to the Congress for its “petty and cheap politics”.

As she faces criticism for remaining missing during the unprecedented rains last monsoon which wreaked havoc in Kullu-Manali, the Congress is also raising doubts in voters mind about her being a 24X7 politician who will devote full time to their service and quit Mumbai.

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