Once again Kangana Ranaut has landed a Frankensteinian bombshell on her party. Once again the BJP has had to go into fire-fighting mode to control the damage inflicted where it hurts and matters the most. Once again, the MP with a runaway tongue has been left chastened.

Ranaut on Wednesday posted a video expressing regret and withdrawing her statement favouring the reinstatement of the three farm laws repealed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi following an intense year-long peasants’ protest.

“When the three farmers’ laws were proposed, a lot of us supported it. But with a lot of sensitivity and sympathy, our Prime Minister repealed these laws. It’s the responsibility of all party workers to treat his words with dignity. I also have to keep in mind that I am no longer just an actor but also a BJP worker. My opinions can’t be personal, they have to reflect the party’s stand,” Ranaut said in the video posted on X.

“I regret if I have upset and disappointed anyone with my words and thinking. I take back my words,” she added.

Ranaut on Tuesday appeared to have deliberately courted controversy by suggesting that the three junked farm laws be reinstated. “I know this will be controversial but I feel that the farm laws that were repealed should be brought back. The farmers themselves should demand it,” she told reporters.

As her statement created a furore on social media and the Opposition demanded to know if the Modi government was using Ranaut as a trial balloon to implement its “mischievous” plans, the BJP promptly distanced itself from her remarks. “Kangana Ranaut is not authorised to make such a statement on behalf of the BJP and it doesn’t depict the BJP’s view on the farm bills,” party spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said.

Even after this, Ranaut, whose latest film Emergency where she plays Indira Gandhi is struggling to get a green signal from the censor board, sought to feistily defend her views on the farm laws in her reply to the BJP spokesperson’s post, stressing that they were “personal”.

“Absolutely, my views on farmers’ laws are personal and they don’t represent the party’s stand on those bills. Thanks,” she said in reply to Bhatia.

Hours later, Ranaut released the video expressing “regret” and “withdrawing” her comments, indicating pressure from the party. BJP insiders said she had been directed to withdraw her statement and tender an apology, given its potential to impact the October 5 elections in farmer-dominated Haryana.

“Party leaders are angry with her statement. This could cost us dearly in the Haryana elections,” a BJP leader said. The two-term BJP government in Haryana is already on a weak wicket amid reports of voter anger. Also, farmers from Haryana, along with those from Punjab, had taken a leadership role in the farm protests.

This is the second time in over a month that Ranaut has upset her party with her statements on farmers. In an interview last month, she had sparked a row alleging that “rapes and murders” were committed during the 2020 farm protests and that it could have led to a “Bangladesh-like crisis” had the Modi government not acted firmly.

This had earned her a strong reprimand from the party leadership with a clear message “not to make such statements in the future”. Ranaut had then said she would be more careful and mindful of the party line.

The Opposition on Wednesday slammed the BJP for its MP’s statements. The Congress demanded that Ranaut be expelled from the BJP, failing which it would be construed that Prime Minister Modi “is conspiring to bring back the three black laws to benefit his friends”.

In a video statement, leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi said: “BJP people keep testing ideas. They ask someone to voice an idea among the people and then they see the reaction. This is what has happened; one of their MPs has talked about reviving the three black farm laws. Modiji, you must clarify whether you are against this or you are again up to some mischief.”

“Will the three farm laws be revived? If you do so, I guarantee you that the INDIA bloc will together stand against it. As many as 700 people were martyred, they must be remembered and respected,” Rahul said. “Modiji had not allowed two minutes’ silence for them, we will never forget this.”

In a post in Hindi on X along with the video, Rahul said: “Who is deciding the government’s policy? A BJP MP or Prime Minister Modi?”

“Even after the martyrdom of more than 700 farmers, especially those from Haryana and Punjab, the BJP people are not satisfied. INDIA will not allow any conspiracy of the BJP against our farmers to succeed — if any step is taken to harm the farmers, Modiji will have to apologise again,” the Congress leader said.

In a strongly worded statement, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Modi government of being “anti-farmer”, stressing that the voters of Haryana would give a “befitting reply”.

“Even after the martyrdom of 750 farmers, the anti-farmer BJP and Modi government did not realise their grave crime! There is talk of re-implementation of the three black anti-farmer laws. The Congress party strongly opposes this,” Kharge said.

“This time, farmers from all the election-bound states, including Haryana, will give a befitting reply to the derogatory remarks of the Prime Minister himself in Parliament, calling them ‘agitators’ and ‘parasites’,” he added.