Lok Sabha polls: Why Kangana Ranaut’s poll debut on BJP ticket is unsurprising

Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh. The saffron party announced its fifth list of nominees for the upcoming general elections last Sunday (24 March) night.

Besides Ranaut, former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, Ramayan TV serial actor Arun Govil and industrialist and ex-Congress MP Naveen Jindal were among the 111 candidates whose names were on the recent list.

Some political observers believe Ranaut’s foray into politics is not surprising nor is her electoral debut on a BJP ticket. In fact, the Tanu Weds Manu actor has been hinting the same for a while.

Let’s take a closer look.

Kangana Ranaut’s reaction to her Mandi LS nomination

Reacting to her nomination from Mandi, Ranaut wrote on X that the BJP has always had her “unconditional support”. She said she would “abide by the (BJP) high command’s decision” to contest the Lok Sabha elections.

“I feel honoured and elated to officially join the party. I look forward to be a worthy karyakarta and a reliable public servant,” the actor added.

My beloved Bharat and Bhartiya Janta’s own party, Bharatiya Janta party ( BJP) has always had my unconditional support, today the national leadership of BJP has announced me as their Loksabha candidate from my birth place Himachal Pradesh, Mandi (constituency) I abide by the high…

— Kangana Ranaut (Modi Ka Parivar) (@KanganaTeam) March 24, 2024

Ranaut was reportedly born in Bhambla, a village in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh.  The actor has expressed interest in contesting elections several times over the past two years.

After her candidature for the Lok Sabha polls came to light, a purported old tweet of Ranaut saying that she would not want to contest from Himachal because its “population is hardly 60/70 lakhs” with “no poverty/crime” has gone viral.

“If I get into politics, I want a state with complexities I can work on and be the Queen I am in that field also,” she had reportedly replied to a user on X in March 2021.

When Kangana Ranaut hinted at joining politics

Ranaut has links to politics. Her great-grandfather, Sarju Singh Ranaut, was a Congress MLA, as per an Indian Express report.

Her father Amardeep Ranaut is a businessman, and her mother, Asha, retired as a Mandi schoolteacher. Although her family was traditionally a Congress supporter, they appear to have shifted their stance in recent years.

Ranaut said last month that this may be the “right time” for her to take the political plunge. Speaking at an event of TV9 Bharatvarsh, the Bollywood actor said it was not her place to announce whether she would be contesting the Lok Sabha polls or not.

Ranaut said she is a “really aware person” who has “done more than anyone could” for the country. “I have literally fought from film sets with political parties. That doesn’t keep me away, it doesn’t take me a seat to do what I want to do for my country. But, if I want to get into politics, I probably think this is the right time,” Indian Express quoted her as saying.

The actor, who has been highly vocal on various hot-button political issues and has often courted controversies with her remarks, also boasted about her “nationalist” credentials at the function. “I have always been more of a nationalist and that image has taken over even my very glorious acting career".

Last November, the 37-year-old had said that if Lord Krishna blesses, she will fight the Lok Sabha elections. She had made the remarks while visiting the famous Dwarkadhish temple in Gujarat.

The Tejas actor had also shown the inclination to make her poll debut in October 2022. During an AajTak conclave, when asked about her possible political entry, Ranaut said she was open to fighting the elections from Mandi on a BJP ticket if the public wants. She said that “it would be great if people in Himachal Pradesh would give me a chance to serve”.

She had made the comments just a month ahead of the Himachal Pradesh Assembly elections.

As per a 2022 India Today report, while some Himachali women favoured Ranaut’s foray into elections as she is “bold, beautiful” and could bring a change in state politics, men were sceptical about the move. The local men had said that she was popular but might not “prove to be a good politician”, the report added.

How she has been laying the groundwork

Kangana Ranaut has long been backing the BJP on different issues, including the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The self-declared fan of Prime Minister Narendra Modi never misses a chance to laud him.

Taking to Instagram Stories in January, she wrote that PM Modi’s “intensity”, “intent” and “action” makes him “extraordinary”. She has also called him “Mahapurush”.

Ranaut, who is gearing up for the release of her movie Emergency where she plays the role of former PM Indira Gandhi, also marked her attendance at the consecration ceremony of the grand Ram temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya in January.

Donning a cream-hued saree at the event, the Fashion actor shared a video on Instagram of her excitedly chanting “Jai Shri Ram”. She captioned the post: “Ram aa gaye (Ram has come).”

She previously hailed the BJP-led Central government for the consecration of Lord Ram’s idol at Ayodhya which was made possible “after 600 years of struggle”.

Earlier this month, Ranaut voiced her support for the CAA after the Union Home Ministry implemented the contentious law. Sharing PM Modi’s old video on the legislation, she took to Instagram Stories and wrote, “Before you form an emotion about CAA, first understand what it stands for.”

It is not just Ranaut who has backed the BJP. In 2020, the saffron party led a campaign to support the actor in Himachal Pradesh after her controversial remarks on Mumbai created a stir.

She had landed in a soup for comparing Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) while responding to the then undivided Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut who had slammed her for saying she was “scared” of the Mumbai Police.

The Congress had accused Ranaut of touting the BJP’s political agenda.

Following concerns about her security, Ranaut was granted Y-Plus security from the Union Home Ministry at the time. The then Himachal CM Jai Ram Thakur had also deployed police security at her Manali residence.

After years of vocal support, Ranaut is “officially” now in the BJP fold. Come June and we will know if her bet paid off.

With inputs from agencies