Kangana Ranaut's Dalai Lama remarks spark protest in Himachal's Kaza

In a dramatic turn of events, BJP candidate Kangana Ranaut faced the wrath of protesters during her visit to Kaza of Lahaul-Spiti district in Himachal Pradesh on Monday. The protesters showed black flags, shouted slogans, and even prevented Ranaut from entering the area over objections to her remarks on Buddhism.

Actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut visited Kaza along with BJP leader and former CM Jairam Thakur to address a public rally. Meanwhile, Jairam Thakur accused the Congress of attacking their convoy.

While condemning the incident Thakur stated, “It is very sad that the Congress workers attacked our convoy, attempted to stop the vehicles and pelted them with stones. The district administration is responsible for the lapse. Authorities acted under the pressure of the Congress government. Strict action should be taken against them.”

#WATCH | Mandi | On black flags shown to BJP candidate Kangana Ranaut in Kaza, Congress MP candidate Vikramaditya Singh says, "As of now, I don't have much knowledge about it. When I visited Kaza, I heard that her (Kangana Ranaut's) improper statement about His Holiness The Dalai… pic.twitter.com/RoaBRiG8UZ
— ANI (@ANI) May 20, 2024

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However, on the other side, the Himachal Congress unit claimed that the people of Lahaul-Spiti showed black flags to Kangana Ranaut over her comments about the Buddhist spiritual leader, Dalai Lama.

While taking to microblogging site X, the Congress wrote, “Kangana Ranaut’s comments about Buddhist religious leader Dalai Lama reflect her values. In protest against this, the people of Lahaul Spiti showed black flags to Kangana Ranaut, a BJP candidate from the Mandi parliamentary constituency. But the time is not far when on June 1, the people of the entire Mandi Lok Sabha constituency will show her the way out”.

बौद्ध धर्मगुरु दलाई लामा के बारे में कंगना रनौत की टिप्पणी से उनके संस्कार स्पष्ट झलकते है। इसी के विरोध में मंडी संसदीय क्षेत्र से भाजपा प्रत्याशी कंगना रनौत के खिलाफ लाहौल स्पीति की जनता ने काले झंडे दिखाए। लेकिन वह वक्त भी दूर नहीं जब 1 जून को संपूर्ण मंडी लोकसभा क्षेत्र की… pic.twitter.com/AAKL2MjSI8
— Himachal Congress (@INCHimachal) May 20, 2024

Kangana Ranaut’s remarks on Dalai Lama

In 2023, Kangana landed in a controversy when she shared a morphed photo featuring the 14th Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Buddhism, and US President Joe Biden. The picture in the tweet showed the Dalai Lama sticking his tongue out with Joe Biden in front of him.

Kangana shared the morphed photo with the caption: “The Dalai Lama receives a warm welcome at the White House.” The tweet drew widespread criticism, with many accusing her of being insensitive to the religious sentiments of the Buddhist community.