Actor-turned-BJP MP Kangana Ranaut’s penchant for swerving into controversy was in display again as she questioned Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) spokesperson Saurav Das’s suitability as a student leader and called him “totally useless”. The unseemly exchange between the two snowballed into a political controversy on the sidelines of the major debate over paper leaks and corruption on Wednesday, July 29.
Ranaut, a first-time MP from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, had unleashed ridicule on the CJP-led protests that eventually led to Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation from the Narendra Modi cabinet. In remarks posted as her Instagram Stories on Tuesday, she had termed Gen Z as “Generation gutter” and asked “who is birthing and raising them (CJP protesters)”. Her comments were widely criticised by non-NDA politicians cutting across party lines.
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Saurav Das, a 28-year-old Delhi-based independent investigative journalist who came to national limelight as the official spokesperson of CJP, hit back, saying the 40-year-old MP’s language was unbecoming of an elected people’s representative. He also questioned Ranaut’s mental stability and accused her of trying to “ride the CJP wave”. “These words do not seem to come from a person who is mentally stable. Because you would not use this kind of language against young people. If there is a young person in your family who belongs to Gen Z or Gen Alpha, would you use such language against them?” said Das.
“I do not have much to say about Kangana Ranaut. Even her own party members do not take her seriously. There are videos of her from her constituency where she is meeting people and telling them, ‘Aap log to bohat kaam karate ho. Mujhe to laga tha ki MP banke zyaada kaam nahi hoga. Lekin yaha par to mujhe roz kaam karna pad raha hai.’ So that’s the kind of seriousness with which she sees her own work,” said Das.
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Ranaut was quick to retaliate. In a fresh Instagram Stories post, she called Das “totally useless and unemployed”. She wrote: “I just googled this person and he is 28 years old. And he claims to be a student. How he claims to be a student I have no clue!!”
Referring to Das’s criticism of her performance as an MP, Ranaut said: “At his age, I had two National Awards. Yes, as a new parliamentarian, I was overwhelmed with all the work because I am also a filmmaker, performing artist, producer, screenwriter, and entrepreneur. But someone like him, who is totally useless and unemployed, will never understand what it means to be in massive demand at all times, at any age.”
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“Dear Saurav, your issues are personal. You are not a student; you are simply useless. Let us start with learning some skill. It’s a good place to start,” added Ranaut.
Ranaut’s post criticising CJP protesters, in which she had said some of the women protesters were “so ugly and corrupt that they can’t be homemakers either”, was taken with particular disdain by many people across the country. The actor-turned-MP on Wednesday, July 29, accused media of ganging up against her.
