A day after Kangana Ranaut was named the BJP candidate for the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh, a major controversy erupted on Monday as an objectionable post with "sexual innuendos and abuses" on the Bollywood actor was shared on the Instagram account of Congress national spokesperson Supriya Shrinate.
The post showed a photo of scantily-clad Kangana Ranaut, with an offensive and derogatory caption.
In a message posted on X, Ranaut hit back at Shrinate, saying that people should "refrain from using sex workers’ challenging lives or circumstances as some kind of abuse or slur".
While the post triggered a massive uproar on social media, Shrinate issued a clarification, saying that the post had been taken down.
She wrote on X: "Someone who had access to my meta accounts (FB and Insta) posted an absolutely disgusting and objectionable post, which has been taken down. Anyone who knows me will know I would never say that for a woman. However, a parody account that I have just discovered misusing my name is being run on Twitter (@Supriyaparody) which started the whole mischief, and is being reported."
The post of Shrinate on Instagram which has now been deleted, asked: "Kya bhav chal raha hai Mandi me koi batayega? (Will someone tell me what the rate system in Mandi is?)", along with the image of Ranaut.
The post drew a sharp response from the BJP and Ranaut.
The Bollywood actor shared her response on X, saying that "every woman deserves her dignity".
“Dear Supriya ji, In the last 20 years of my career as an artist I have played all kinds of women. From a naive girl in Queen to a seductive spy in Dhaakad, from a goddess in Manikarnika to a demon in Chandramukhi, from a prostitute in Rajjo to a revolutionary leader in Thalaivii," Ranaut said.
"We must free our daughters from the shackles of prejudices, we must rise above the curiosity about their body parts and above all we must refrain from using sex workers challenging lives or circumstances as some kind of abuse or slur... every woman deserves her dignity...," she added.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Amit Malviya urged Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to sack Shrinate.
"Congress’s Supriya Shrinate makes an obnoxious comment on Kangana Ranaut in an Insta post. It is so disgusting that one can’t help, but ask - how does Congress collect so much filth in one place? If Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has any say in the party, he must sack her immediately or else resign," Malviya said.
Responding to the post, which has been deleted now, journalist Mrinal Pande wrote: "Yes, I am a housewife. By reading Hindi newspapers, I keep myself informed daily about the wholesale and retail rates of commodities available in the market. You may be interested in other types of markets, not me!"
Her response came after her social media post targeting Ranaut came under sharp criticism from X users.
The netizens, at the same time, refused to buy the clarification made by Shrinate.
The reprehensible post targeting Kangana Ranaut has already done the damage, there is no point offering such clarification now, say many social media users.
According to some, political leaders who troll any eminent figure are in the habit of resorting to such justification and clarification after they find themselves in an embarrassing situation over improper social media practices.
Amid the raging outrage, Shrinate deleted the post from her official Instagram account and tried washing her hands of the incident by claiming that her Meta accounts were hacked. After the post went viral, the BJP launched a scathing attack on Shrinate, accusing her of circulating screenshots of the post which she claimed to have deleted.