Bollywood actress-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut has come out in support of Hema Malini after Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala sparked a row with his alleged 'derogatory and misogynistic' remark on the veteran actress and BJP MP. For those unversed, during one of his speeches, Surjewala had said, "Why people elect their MLAs/MPs? So that they (MLAs/MPs) can raise the public's voice. It's not like Hema Malini, who was elected to lick."
This did not go down well with a section of social media users who slammed the Congress leader and demanded an apology. Now, Kangana also reacted to Surjewala's viral video and lashed out at him for his sexist remark.
On her official X account, Kangana shared the video and wrote in Hindi, "There was talk of opening a shop of love but Congress has opened a shop of hatred. Congress leaders, who have degraded views towards women, are deteriorating their character day by day in frustration and despair of inevitable defeat."
According to a report in TOI, Kangana also said, "If they see a young woman, they comment on her body parts. And a 75-year-old senior woman, who is a classical Bharatanatyam dancer, is called Nachaniya or dancer... They don't even leave an elderly woman, what kind of life do they want women to live in. It would be better if they dig their own graves and bury themselves in it."
It may be mentioned that a few days back, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate made derogatory and sexist remarks against BJP candidate Kangana, labeling her as a 'slut'.
Filmmaker Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri also took to his official X account and said that women deserve respect. Without naming anyone, he wrote, "Any woman standing tall in this bad world of politics deserves utmost respect and support. Any woman. Any party."
Reacting to the indecent comment by the Congress reader on her, Hema Malini said on Thursday that the leaders of the opposition should learn how to respect women from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"They target only popular people because targeting the unpopular ones won't do them any good... They should learn how to respect women from PM Narendra Modi," she said.
After facing backlash over his alleged objectionable statement, Surjewala clarified that he never intended to insult or hurt the actress-politician.
Hema Malini is set to contest the 2024 general elections from Mathura.
