‘Apologise or…’: Congress challenges Kangana Ranaut to prove her claims against Sonia Gandhi

BJP MP Kangana Ranaut claimed that the Himachal government took loans and transferred the money to Sonia Gandhi rather than helping the state.

Published on: Sep 23, 2024, 16:55:05 IST

By HT News Desk

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The Himachal Pradesh Congress on Monday slammed BJP MP Kangana Ranaut for her “foolish statement” against Sonia Gandhi, challenging her to prove her allegations against the veteran politician or face legal action over her remarks. This comes after Ranaut alleged that the Congress-ruled Himachal Pradesh government used take out loans and diverted the money to Sonia Gandhi.

Himachal Pradesh minister Vikramaditya Singh told reporters that Ranaut's comments on Sonia Gandhi showed the “intellectual bankruptcy” of the Mandi MP. He further said that Congress will file a defamation case against her if she fails to give proof for her statements.

"There cannot be a bigger foolish statement than saying that funds coming from the Centre or the state's funds for development are being given to Sonia Gandhi," he said.

"I openly challenge BJP MP Kangana Ranaut to show proof of even ₹1 being diverted or apologise to Congress leader Sonia Gandhi for making such baseless and unwarranted allegations against her. Otherwise, the Congress will file a defamation case against her," the minister, who lost to the actor-politician in the Mandi Lok Sabha contest, said.

Read more: 'Himachal Pradesh's coffers empty because of Sonia Gandhi': BJP MP Kangana Ranaut

Congress' warning to Ranaut comes a day after she claimed that the Himachal government had hollowed out their coffers, taking disaster loans from the state government and diverting the funds to Sonia Gandhi.

“They take loans and give it to Sonia Gandhi, which has made the state's coffers hollow. If we (Centre) give disaster funds, it goes to the CM Relief Fund but everyone knows that it goes to the Sonia relief fund from there,” the BJP MP claimed during a public gathering in Manali on Sunday.

Taking a jibe at Ranaut, Vikramaditya Singh said that the BJP leader is making baseless remarks because she is frustrated that her film “Emergency” was not cleared by the censor board in time for release.

"The BJP MP does not visit Himachal Pradesh often but, with her film being "blocked" by the censor board, maybe she is saddened and making baseless statements from her home in Manali," he said.

Ranaut had recently said "Emergency" was stuck with the censor board. The BJP MP stars in the role of former prime minister Indira Gandhi in the film.

(With inputs from PTI)

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