‘Jaa aur ro ab’: Kangana Ranaut reacts to criticism by BJP leader Varun Gandhi on her “got real freedom in 2014, ‘bheekh’ in 1947” comment

New Delhi/Mumbai: Padma Shri Kangana Ranaut triggered a controversy saying India did not get Independence in 1947 "but charity", drawing criticism from many, including BJP leader Varun Gandhi. An AAP leader also filed a complaint against Ranaut with the Mumbai Police.

Varun Gandhi slammed the actor on Twitter for her comments, and questioned if it was "madness or treason".

"Sometimes an insult to the sacrifice and penance of Mahatma Gandhi, sometimes the respect of his killer, and now the disdain for the sacrifices of millions of freedom fighters from Shaheed Mangal Pandey to Rani Laxmibai, Bhagat Singh, Chandrashekhar Azad, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and more. Should I call this thinking -- madness or treason?" Varun said.

Ranaut, participating in the Times Now Summit 2021, remarked India did not get Independence in 1947, rather freedom for the nation came in 2014, in an apparent reference to the Narendra Modi government coming in power.

"That was not freedom but bheekh (alms), and the real freedom came in 2014," she said.

Preethi Menon, National Executive Chairman of AAP, has also filed a complaint with Mumbai Police seeking an FIR against Ranaut for making "seditious remarks".

Aam Aadmi Party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh also slammed the actor, and lauded the complaint made by Menon.

"The statement of the actress suffering from perverted mentality is a gross insult to the martyrs of the country and her statement is outright sedition. Congratulate Preeti Menon for the historic step," Singh said. (Inputs from UNI)