Case filed against unknown persons for ‘obstructing’ Ranaut rally

Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh Police Department filed an FIR on Wednesday against unknown people in Lahaul and Spiti for allegedly blocking a rally by Kangana Ranaut, an actor and BJP contender for the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency. Separately, The Youth Congress office-bearers received a notice from the returning officer regarding the same occurrence.

The BJP has claimed that Ranaut's rally in Kaza on Monday was obstructed and that some locals and Congress workers raised black flag. The Congress workers' attempt to forcibly stop the political procession by throwing stones at it resulted in an injury to a party employee, according to a complaint the BJP filed with Chief Electoral Officer Maneesh Garg, asking for an investigation into the incident.

As the BJP and the Congress were granted permission to hold rallies next to one another in Kaza, it had also demanded the relocation of poll officials and an investigation into the incident, Indian Express reported.

“An FIR has been registered under Sections 341 and 323 IPC at Kaza on the complaint filed by the BJP, for obstructing the rally of their Lok Sabha candidate. Also, a notice has been issued by the returning officer-cum-SDM to the Youth Congress,” a spokesperson at CEO's office in Shimla said.

In Kaza slogans of “Kangana, go back”, “Kangana Vangana nahi chalegi” were raised.

Pratibha Singh, the chief of the State Congress, had rejected any involvement of Congress in the incident. She had described it as locals' resentment of Ranaut for her comments from April of last year against the Dalai Lama. The election organiser for the Congress in Lahaul and Spiti, Bhishan Shashni, asserted that while his party's members were peacefully demonstrating, many locals joined in because they were offended by Ranaut's comment.

From BJP’s legal cell, Advocate Anshul Bansal said, “An FIR has been lodged . We will submit the evidence establishing the involvement of Congress workers in the attack on our candidate’s convoy. Such things are unacceptable in democracy”.

Mayank Chowdhary, the SP for Lahaul and Spiti, has stated that although members of the ruling Congress and the BJP came into contact, there was no altercation and no one was hurt. He did add, though, that one BJP worker had sprained his leg.

Meanwhile, Ranaut and Pratibha’s son Vikramaditya Singh, who is also Congress’ Lok Sabha candidate from Mandi, said “People of the tribal area worship the Tibetan spiritual leader as their god and if someone passes any remarks against their god, they will surely not like it and protest”.

Ranaut retaliated by accusing the Congress of being behind the demonstration against her and predicted that the Kaza episode would be the final straw that would break the resistance and increase her margin of victory.

In retaliation, Ranaut said that the Congress was orchestrating the demonstration against her and that the Kaza incident would be the final straw that would bring it to an end and increase her margin of victory. Singh, however, denied any involvement from his party in the incident and charged the BJP with placing the blame on the Congress because it was losing the polls.

In April of last year, Ranaut posted a meme of the Dalai Lama that read, “The Dalai Lama receives a warm welcome at the White House”. The tweet featured a Photoshopped image of the Dalai Lama poking his tongue at US President Joe Biden, stating, "Both of them have the same illness, definitely, they could be friends." After that, several Buddhists in Mumbai held a dharna in front of her office.

According to a representative of the Shimla Chief Electoral Office, Ranaut's public statement about meeting the costs of a girl's medical care after she was attacked at the Palampur bus stop with a sharp object has prompted the Mandi DC to seek legal action against her.

“Another notice has been issued to Ranaut by Mandi DC for her religious remarks during campaigning at different areas in Mandi. On a complaint filed by BJP against Congress’ Vikramaditya Singh for making derogatory remarks against Ranaut, an inquiry has been made and a report has been sent to the Election Commission,” he said.