Queen of faux pas? Ranaut retracts farm comment in damage control
Mandi parliamentarian Kangana Ranaut on Wednesday retracted her controversial comments on three withdrawn farm laws.
Dharamshala/New Delhi

Mandi parliamentarian Kangana Ranaut on Wednesday retracted her controversial comments on three withdrawn agricultural laws after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) distanced itself from her views – the latest in a string of instances where the actor-turned-lawmaker’s intemperate remarks have landed herself and her party in trouble.
This is the second time in two months that Ranaut’s rash remarks on the 2020-21 farmer agitation has forced her party to reprimand her, and ultimately made her retract the comment.
The gaffe by Ranaut embarrassed the party at a time when political parties are preparing for the October 5 assembly elections in Haryana, which saw major protests by farmers against the now-repealed three laws.
The latest controversy began on Tuesday evening, when Ranaut said the farm laws – which were withdrawn by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2021 after a months-long protest by cultivators – should be brought back. As the row swirled, the party scrambled to distance itself from her comments and said it disapproved of her remarks.
This was almost a play-by-play repeat of an earlier controversy on the same issue in August, when her comments were condemned by several party leaders and were finally retracted after a rebuke from the party.
In a video posted on X on Wednesday, Ranaut said she must remember that she is not only an artiste but also a BJP member now and her statements should be in line with her party’s policies.
“When the farmers’ laws were proposed, several of us supported them. But with great sensitivity and sympathy, our respected Prime Minister had withdrawn those laws. I must remember that now I am not only an artiste but also a member of the BJP and my opinion should not be personal but the stand of the party,” the MP said, still hinting that her individual views remain out of sync with the party line.
“I regret if I left anybody disappointed with my words and opinions. I take my words back,” she added.
In a separate post, she said: “My views on farmer laws are personal and they don’t represent the party’s stand on those Bills. Thanks.”
On Tuesday evening, Ranaut was speaking at an event in her constituency when she said the three farms laws faced protests only in some states. “Farmers are a pillar of strength in India’s progress. Only in some states, they had objected to farm laws. I appeal with folded hands that farm laws should be brought back in the interest of farmers,” she said.
The comment sparked an immediate controversy, especially in poll-bound Haryana, a major node for the farm stir where the BJP is hoping to win a third straight term in the assembly elections next month.
Late on Tuesday, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said the statement was made in a personal capacity.
“I want to make it clear that this statement is a personal statement of hers. Kangana Ranaut is not authorised to make such a statement on behalf of the BJP and it doesn’t depict the BJP’s view on the farm bills. We disapprove of this statement,” Bhatia said in a statement.
Individual leaders of the BJP also distanced themselves from what they described as Ranaut’s tendency to flout the party line and stoke unnecessary controversy.
BJP national spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill said Ranaut’s “consistent, baseless and illogical rant” against farmers and the Sikh community has a “damaging impact” on all the good work done by Modi for the welfare of “Punjab, punjabi and punjabiyat”. The Prime Minister’s bond with the farmers and Punjab cannot be and must not be judged through the lens of one MP’s “irresponsible comments”, Shergill said on X.
The Congress sought to corner the BJP, alleging the ruling party was making efforts to bring back the three laws.
“The BJP people keep testing ideas. They ask someone to voice an idea among the people and then they see the reaction. This is what has happened, one of their MPs has talked about reviving the three black farm laws. Modi ji you must clarify, whether you are against this or you are again up to some mischief,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on X.
“Will the three farm laws be revived or not? If you do so, I guarantee you that the INDIA bloc will together stand against it. 700 people were martyred, they must be remembered and respected,” he added.
In 2021, while announcing the repeal of the three laws, Modi had apologised to the nation for “failing to convince” the farmers.
A BJP leader, who did not wish to be identified, said the party leadership asked Ranaut to avoid commenting on issues that have the potential to trigger a controversy and create trouble for the party.
“As an MP, she cannot have an individual opinion on policy issues… she was told this before as well. The party line must be followed, and statements must be made with sensitivity she was told,” the leader said.
“Such statements have the potential to damage the party’s prospects… there is an election narrative decided by the leadership and taking a position contrary to that means giving the Opposition a chance to hurt the party and the government…,” the leader added.
In August, Ranaut said the farmers’ protests against the three laws in 2021 could have caused a “Bangladesh-like situation” if India did not have a “strong leadership”.
The BJP distanced itself from her remarks, saying it was not the party’s position and directing her to “not to make any statement of this kind in future”.
“On behalf of the party, Kangana Ranaut is neither permitted nor authorised to make statements on party policy issues,” the party said in a statement.
The BJP’s allies said Ranaut’s latest comments were a liability.
“After the party’s decision to distance itself from the statement, BJP MP Kangana Ranaut had no option but to apologise…,” Janata Dal (United) national spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad said.
The three agricultural laws – Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act – were enacted by the Centre in September 2020 to liberalise the trade of farm produce.
Farm unions, however, protested against the legislation, saying they would leave cultivators at the mercy of large corporations and with little bargaining power. The protests began in Punjab in October 2020 but snowballed into a full-blown political uprising spreading to several states in the course of a year, including Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. The laws were repealed in 2021.
