Kangana says MVA lost in Maharashtra because it disrespected women

NEW DELHI/SHIMLA: A day after the Mahayuti alliance trounced the MVA in the Maharashtra Assembly elections, BJP MP Kangana Ranaut on Sunday likened the opposition alliance with "daitya" and said it suffered this fate because it had disrespected women. Speaking to reporters in Delhi, Ranaut said, "I expected such a bad failure of Uddhav Thackeray. We can identify who is a 'devta (god)' and who is a 'daitya (satan)' depending on if they respect women or work for their welfare."

Ranaut and then-Maharashtra chief minister Thackeray's Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government had a bitter run-in in 2020 with the then-undivided Shiv Sena-led Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation demolishing alleged illegal alterations at her Bandra bungalow.

He faced the same fate as "daitya", the Mandi MP added.


"Those who do not respect women can never win. They demolished my home and verbally abused me," she alleged.

Before the demolition exercise at her bungalow, Ranaut had said she feared the Mumbai Police more than the "movie mafia" and likened the Maharashtra capital to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

The BJP-led Mahayuti on Saturday retained power in Maharashtra, bagging a whopping 230 of the 288 assembly seats, as the Congress-led MVA's dream of wresting power fizzled, with the opposition combine managing to garner just 46 seats.

None of the MVA constituents secured the minimum number of seats mandatory to claim the post of leader of opposition in the assembly.

Earlier, Ranaut told reporters at Bhuntar airport in Himachal Pradesh's Kullu district that the people had taught a befitting lesson to those talking about breaking the country.

Lauding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, the actor-politician said she believed that he was born for the "salvation of the country and is invincible".

The people of Maharashtra voted for development and a stable government, she said.

She also congratulated Modi for the Mahayuti's electoral success and said the BJP high command would decide Maharashtra's next chief minister.

"During campaigning, I saw every child chanting 'Modi-Modi'. Prime Minister Modi is the tallest leader in the world. The BJP is a brand and, today, the people of India believe in the brand," the Mandi MP said.

"I believe the prime minister was born for the salvation of the country and he is invincible," she added.

The Congress was also a brand after Independence but it has today become a regional party as people have lost faith in it, Ranaut claimed.