Mandi to Teach Political Neophytes a Lesson: Kangana Ranaut

MANDI: People of Mandi will teach a lesson to the gangs of ''shehzadas'' for making inappropriate comments and disrespecting the women of the state, BJP candidate from Mandi and Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut said on Saturday.

Addressing a public gathering in the Jhakari area of the Mandi Parliament constituency, Kangana trained her guns at Congress leader Vikramaditya Singh, calling him ''Prince of Rampur,'' and took exception to his referring to her Bollywood connection.

Vikramaditya Singh is a scion of the erstwhile Bushahr estate, now known as Rampur, one of the 17 assembly segments in the Mandi Lok Sabha constituency. Referring to Kangana, Singh had earlier said, ''I pray to Lord Ram to give her wisdom and hope she goes back pure from 'Dev Bhoomi' Himachal to the Bollywood because she will not win the election since she knows nothing about people of Himachal.'' In her rally, Kangana responded to the dig, saying, ''Now they are saying that I am impure because I have come here after working in the film industry and I should first go and purify myself.'' The actor said she found the remark offensive because by working in films she supported her family, educated her siblings, got her sister treated who was a victim of an acid attack, and made the state proud.

She compared Vikramaditya Singh, who comes from money, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, she said, ''was born in a poor family and saw his mother struggle while growing up.'' This is the reason he gave 33 per cent reservation to the women in Lok Sabha as well as Vidhan Sabha, Kangana claimed.