Supriya Shrinate denied Lok Sabha ticket from Maharajganj amid backlash over remarks on Kangana Ranaut

The Congress party has denied a Lok Sabha ticket to Supriya Shrinate from Maharajganj constituency in Uttar Pradesh, a seat she had unsuccessfully contested in the 2019 general elections. In its eighth list of 14 candidates for upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Congress fielded Virendra Chaudhary, instead of Supriya Shrinate, from Maharajganj.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate is at the centre of a controversy over a now-deleted social media post on BJP’s Mandi candidate Kangana Ranaut.

On Monday, Shrinate kicked up a social media storm with her alleged derogatory social media post against actor-turned-politician Kangana Ranaut. The now-deleted post with a derogatory caption targeted Ranaut over her candidature from Mandi for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Shrinate claimed that “many people” have access to her Facebook and Instagram accounts, and someone from there made the “extremely inappropriate” post, which has since been deleted.

“As soon as I came to know, I deleted that post. Everyone who knows me, also knows very well that I can never make personal and indecent comments towards any woman. I wanted to know how this happened,” she said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Election Commission issued a show-cause notice to Supriya Shrinate for her offensive remarks against Kangana Ranaut. The poll panel said that prima facie, Shrinate’s remarks were violative of the Model Code of Conduct and its advisory to political parties to maintain dignity during electioneering.

The Commission found the comments to be ‘undignified and in bad taste’ and has sought her response by 5pm on March 29, 2024.

The Congress party released its eighth list of Lok Sabha candidates on Wednesday, fielding Rao Yadvendra Singh against Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in Madhya Pradesh’s Guna. It also fielded Pratap Bhanu Sharma against former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Vidisha. Tarvar Singh Lodhi has been nominated from Damoh.

The Congress announced candidates for four seats each in Uttar Pradesh and Telangana, and three each in Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand. With this, the total number of candidates declared by the party so far has reached 208.