Mandi Member of Parliament Kagana Ranaut, after facing criticism for not visiting flash flood-ravaged areas of Mandi and Kullu districts after June 30, where the worst devastation occurred, has blamed former Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur for allegedly asking her not to visit the region as roads are badly damaged.
After facing criticism on social media for abandoning her constituents in their hour of distress, Kananga tweeted on her X account, “It’s heart-breaking to see massive flood devastation in Himachal almost every year now. I tried reaching the affected areas but was advised by Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur to wait until connectivity to rain-hit areas is restored.”
“I was also waiting for clearance from the local administration,” Kangana wrote.
Her absence from the Mandi constituency, during the devastation, represented by her in the Parliament, former CM Jai Ram Thakur, replying to a question during a press conference in Mandi on Thursday, had said, “I don’t want to comment about people who are not concerned about their people in such trying times; we are with the people as we have to live and die with people.”
This is not for the first time actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut, elected MP during the 2022 parliament election from the Mandi region, is making an excuse; she had made a similar excuse for not visiting flood-affected areas of the Kullu and Mandi regions during the 2023 flood fury when a huge loss of life and property had occurred by saying, “I was advised by local administration not to visit the region as the situation was very bad.”
So much so, when several celebrities had contributed toward flood relief funds, she had said, “It was not possible to make an online contribution to the relief fund.”
Kangana Ranaut was touring the tribal Spiti area in the Lahaul–Spiti district with Union Minister Kiran Rijiju, and a video has been circulated on social media, wherein playbacksinger Mohit Chauhan was singing a song from a Hindi film recently.
