Mandi (Himachal Pradesh) [India]: Kangana Ranaut, Bharatiya Janata Party candidate from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi on Friday said that people of Mandi should give a befitting reply to Rahul Gandhi over his ‘Shakti’ remarks, adding that “how can he say such things in a Hindu Rashtra”.
Questioning who has been writing his speeches, Kangana Ranaut said, “Rahul Gandhi says he wants to destroy ‘Shakti’. Who writes such speeches for him ? How can Rahul Gandhi say such kind of things in Hindu Rashtra? I want the people of Mandi to give an answer to those who have spoken indecently about women. The people of India have always blessed me.”
The ‘Shakti’ remarks row erupted earlier this month following Gandhi’s remarks during the campaign conclusion speech in Mumbai’s Shivaji Ground.
Rahul Gandhi, in his comments made earlier this month in Maharashtra, raised concerns about the operation of electronic voting machines to emphasise the opposition’s struggle against the might of the state.
“There is a word ‘Shakti’ in Hinduism. We are fighting against Shakti. The question is, what is Shakti? The soul of the king is in the EVM. This is true. The soul of the king is in the EVM and every institution of the country, in the ED, CBI and Income Tax Department,” Gandhi said..
The BJP also filed a complaint with the Election Commission against Rahul Gandhi over his remarks.
“As the term ‘Shakti’ is traditionally associated with the female deity and women folk in India, thus along with hurting the religious sentiments, it also has an underlying misogynistic tone,” the BJP said in its complaint.
However, the Waynad MP later stated that his remarks were being distorted and that they were intended only for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”Modi Ji does not like my words, he always tries to change their meaning by twisting them in some way or another because he knows that I have spoken a deep truth. The power that I mentioned, the power that we are fighting, it’s mask is none other than Modi ji,” the Congress leader posted on X.
Later the Wayanad MP clarified his remark saying that his party was fighting a “hate-filled asuri shakti (demonic power)”, a jibe at his political rivals, the BJP.
“Humari ‘asuri shakti’ se ladaai ho rahi hai, nafrat bhari ‘asuri shakti’ (We are fighting a demonic power, hate-filled demonic power),” Gandhi said.
