Former Tamil Nadu Congress chief KS Alagiri has sparked a controversy after he said that actor-politician Kangana Ranaut “should be slapped” if she visits the southern state.
Mr Alagiri said he asked some agriculturists to slap Ms Ranaut after they told him about her remarks on farmers in 2020.
During the height of a nationwide agitation against the now-suspended three farm laws, Ms Ranaut, now a BJP MP, had remarked in a social media post that an elderly woman at a protest site was being paid Rs 100 to sit there. After facing widespread backlash, the actor deleted the post.
“Yesterday, 10-15 agriculturists came to me and reported that Kangana Ranaut once told the press about agricultural women that they are working in the feeble lands… One of the reporters asked her that even though those women are working in the fields, they are very prompt and brave, and capable of achieving anything… She (Kangana Ranaut) immediately replied that if given Rs 100, they can come anywhere… I was shocked. Why is this lady, a sitting MP, criticising agricultural ladies? They come from rural India,” Mr Alagiri said on Thursday.
#WATCH | Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu | Regarding his controversial remark against BJP MP Kangana Ranaut, Congress leader KS Alagiri says, “Yesterday, 10-15 agriculturists came to me and reported that during a press conference, Kangana Ranaut once said about agricultural women that they… pic.twitter.com/lE4X1K1M73
— ANI (@ANI) September 18, 2025
He said he then told the agricultural workers that if Ms Ranaut visits “our area”, they should slap her the way a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable slapped her at the Chandigarh airport last year.
“A few months ago, when this lady (Ms Ranaut) went to an airport, a lady police officer slapped her. The police officer said that ‘wherever she goes, she abuses everyone and her words are very ugly’. I told the agricultural workers that if she comes to our area, you should do the same thing as the police officer at the airport. Only then will she rectify her mistake,” Mr Alagiri said.
Responding to the Congress leader, Ms Ranaut said she “can go wherever she wants” across India.
“No one can stop anyone. If there are people who hate me, there are more people who love me,” she told reporters in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu.
She said she has received a positive reception in Tamil Nadu after playing the role of former Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa in ‘Thalaivii’. Ms Ranaut claimed that even opposition MPs from Tamil Nadu recently called her “thalaivii”.
#WATCH | Kullu, Himachal Pradesh: On Congress leader KS Alagiri’s reported remarks on her, BJP MP Kangana Ranaut says, “We can go wherever we want. No one can stop anyone. If there are people who hate me, there are more people who love me. People in Tamil Nadu have always… pic.twitter.com/luJK0OKQnf
— ANI (@ANI) September 18, 2025
“One person saying something won’t make any difference,” she said.
She also said the “dignity and integrity” is often “destroyed”.