Dear readers,
American writer-politician Clare Boothe Luce once said, “The politicians were talking themselves red, white and blue in the face.” This quote rings particularly true in light of recent events.
In the past few days, social media has been abuzz with remarks made by BJP MP from Mandi (Himachal Pradesh), Kangana Ranaut. During a video interview, Ranaut ignited a political storm by saying, “What happened in Bangladesh wouldn’t have taken time to happen in India if our top leadership had not been strong. In the farmers’ protest here, dead bodies were hanging and rapes were being committed….”
Sensing the potential damage to the BJP, already on the back foot regarding farmer issues, the party quickly distanced itself from Ranaut’s comments and advised her not to speak out of turn. Party president J.P. Nadda met her on August 29, with sources indicating that the MP was clearly told to avoid controversies. The party stated that Ranaut was “neither permitted nor authorised” to speak on policy issues. By this time, social media was flooded with memes.
Before the dust could settle on her farmer protest remark, Ranaut waded into another controversy by ruling out a caste census in a television interview. Her “not at all” response to whether there should be a caste census sent BJP media managers into a frenzy, prompting them to quickly clarify that this was not the party’s official stance.
Ranaut is no stranger to controversies and ridicule on social media. In the run-up to the Lok Sabha election, she was trolled over a purported 2019 tweet in which she said, “There’s nothing wrong with eating beef or any other meat. It’s not about any religion.” Ranaut had then, as she did in 2024, asserted that she did not eat meat.
However, Ranaut is not the only party MP to have embarrassed the BJP, nor is the BJP the only party plagued by this problem. Indian political parties have no shortage of motormouths across the political spectrum, though the ruling BJP seems to have been their favourite sanctuary for some time.
In 2024, the BJP sought to send a message to its outspoken leaders by denying a ticket to Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, who in 2019 had praised Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse as a “deshbhakt” (patriot), prompting Prime Minister Narendra Modi to say he would never forgive her for this remark. After being denied the ticket, Thakur acknowledged that her choice of words in previous statements might have displeased Prime Minister Modi.
Before both the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Modi had cautioned BJP MPs not to speak out of turn and to mind their language. In 2018, he advised them not to blame the media for highlighting their controversial statements after giving them “masala” (spice) and noted that some MPs’ tendency to offer “margdarshan” (guidance) to the country through TV cameras was damaging the party and society. In 2023, he reiterated this more explicitly, warning party MPs to be cautious about their statements and to avoid controversy.
Despite these warnings, there has been no shortage of masala for the media, particularly 24/7 news channels eager to sniff out and dwell on controversies. Even the Prime Minister’s remarks have often sparked political storms.
Union Minister Giriraj Singh has frequently tested the party’s patience with his controversial remarks. Nadda reprimanded him in 2020 after Singh called Deoband the “Gangotri” (source) of terrorists. Yet again, his comments suggesting that all Muslims should have been sent to Pakistan in 1947 created discomfort for the party. National Democratic Alliance leader Chirag Paswan from the Lok Janshakti Party had strongly objected to these remarks.
After the 2020 Delhi Assembly election defeat, even Union Home Minister Amit Shah conceded that remarks like “goli maaro” (shoot the traitors) made by BJP leader Anurag Thakur, Kapil Mishra, and others, as well as comparisons of the Delhi election to an India-Pakistan match, might have damaged the party’s prospects.
Nalin Kumar Kateel, BJP leader from Karnataka, sparked controversy in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha election by saying: “Godse killed one, Kasab killed 72, Rajiv Gandhi killed 17,000. You judge who is more cruel in this?” Kateel’s attempt to draw comparisons between Godse (who killed Mahatma Gandhi), Ajmal Kasab (a terrorist involved in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack), and Rajiv Gandhi (who sent peacekeeping forces to Sri Lanka) led to a political storm.
The main opposition party, the Congress, has also found itself in hot water on multiple occasions due to unpalatable and politically damaging remarks by its leaders, forcing it to distance itself from these statements repeatedly.
Ironically, these remarks were not made by political novices but by veterans like Sam Pitroda and Mani Shankar Aiyar. In May 2023, the Congress distanced itself from Pitroda’s comments about how people in the South “look like Africans and those in the North look like Arabs and those in the East look like Chinese”. Previously, in April, the Congress had to distance itself from Pitroda’s “inheritance tax” remark, which gave the BJP ammunition to scare voters about the Congress’s alleged intentions regarding wealth redistribution. In 2019, Pitroda’s off-the-cuff “hua to hua” (what happened, happened) remarks in the context of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots were utilised by the BJP to portray the Congress’s alleged anti-Sikh mindset.
Aiyar, with his “neech aadmi” (lowly person) remark about Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December 2017 (for which he was suspended from the Congress) to his comment in May 2024 about China “allegedly” invading India in 1962, has given the Congress many anxious moments. His latest remark was described by the Congress media managers as a “slip of tongue” or dismissed with statements like, “Who is Mani Shankar Aiyar? He is not an official. He is in the Congress party but he is not even an MP, he is just a former MP.”
Other parties have also faced this dilemma with their “foot-in-mouth” politicians. For instance, the Samajwadi Party’s controversial ex-MP Azam Khan has made multiple statements from which the party had to distance itself. The most infamous was his remark against Jaya Prada without naming her: “People of Rampur, people of Uttar Pradesh and people of India, it took you 17 years to understand her reality. But I could recognise in 17 days that she wears khaki knickers.” This comment led to the registration of an FIR against him.
Kangana’s controversies revive all these memories. After a reprimand, one expects a period of silence from Kangana, but the theatre of politics is full of such acts. The question remains: What next?
Do you believe this will ever come to an end? There are countless other interesting snippets from outspoken politicians waiting to be recalled. We invite you to share your thoughts—please write to us with your opinions and experiences.
Keep reading! Next Friday, we’ll bring you another take on the ever-unfolding drama of politics.
Anand Mishra | Political Editor, Frontline
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