Bhubaneswar: Congress spokesperson Sonali Sahu stirred a row with her remarks on actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut while taking a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his visit to Odisha’s Jharsuguda on Saturday.
“We welcome him as per our political culture. But the real question is, why has Modi come, and who invited him? Last time it was Lord Jagannath’s invitation and he declined Donald Trump’s invite prioritising his visit to Odisha… whom did he spurn this time, Kangana (Ranuat)?” Sahu asked while speaking to PTI.
Addressing a public rally in Bhubaneswar on June 20, the Prime Minister had said he politely declined a dinner invitation from US President Donald Trump during his visit to Canada for the G7 summit, citing a prior commitment to visit Odisha.
Sahu also criticised the Prime Minister for flagging off a train to Surat, suggesting that it was a ploy to force the youths of Odisha to work outside the state with industries packing their bags for neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. “The firms, which committed investments in Odisha, took loans from banks against lands provided to them here and then left for the neighbouring state to establish industries,” she alleged.
Kangana hits back
The Mandi MP slammed the Congress leader for ‘mindlessly dragging her name’ and using it in ‘creepy undertones and gossipy connotations’. “Narendra Modi Ji is the Prime Minister of India, chosen by the people three times for this responsibility. He can travel to any part of the nation and work for people’s development. As for mindlessly dragging my name into it, why am I the untouchable? Why my name is always used in creepy undertones and gossipy connotations? What have I done?”
She added that Congress’s repeated attempts to link her name with the Prime Minister reflected a “regressive mentality” and accused the party of trying to malign her public image. “What have I done ? He is my leader and someday if he cancels a meeting with me and goes somewhere why is it sensational? I wonder if it is because of such public character assassination and slandering I still haven’t got a single audience with honourable PM ji, shame on Congress’s polluted brain, regressive mentality and anti women agendas,” she wrote on X.
Earlier in the day, PM Modi launched a scathing attack on Congress at the ‘Namo Yuva Samabesh’ at Odisha’s Jharsuguda, and cautioned people against the alleged loot by the Congress and its allies. He alleged that Congress governments have nullified the potential benefits of reduced Goods and Services Tax by imposing new taxes in the states governed by them. “The Congress left no opportunity to loot people, and imposed tax on those with an annual income of Rs 2 lakh. The BJP government raised the limit to over Rs 12 lakh,” Modi further stated.
