The Congress has courted controversy after its leader Supriya Shrinate posted an objectionable comment on actor and BJP candidate from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat Kangana Ranaut which she later deleted. The BJP on Tuesday blasted the Congress over the now-deleted post and accused the grand old party of “insulting the Nari Shakti” on purpose.

A BJP delegation, including general secretaries Vinod Tawde and Om Pathak, met the Election Commission on Tuesday and lodged a complaint against the Congress over the ‘sexist’ remarks made by its leaders.

Union Minister Smriti Irani, who herself started her career as a TV actor, said that the Congress lacks the ability to comprehend how to deal with ‘women of steel’. “This initiation into politics by fire @KanganaTeam is not a reflection on who you are but on what they have done and are capable of continuing to do for they can’t fathom how to deal with women of steel. March onto victory. Vijayi Bhav!” the minister exhorted the actor as she forays into the political arena.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has also taken cognisance of the matter and filed a complaint with the Election Commission.

The row erupted a day after the BJP announced Ranaut as its candidate from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh.

Terming the post as “highly objectionable”, Shrinate clarified on Monday that her social media account was accessible to several people and that she is trying to find out the ‘culprit’ responsible for it.

Raising his pitch during the election season, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said Congress national spokesperson and IT cell head Supriya Shrinate insulted ‘Nari Shakti’ through the indecent post.

“This is not just Kangana Ranaut’s or women’s insult but this is an insult to the whole of Himachal Pradesh… This party’s slogan is ‘Ladki Hoon, Lad Sakti hoon’… It has become Congress’s character to insult women…,” he wrote on X.

Journalist, former head of Prasar Bharati and current editor of National Herald, Mrinal Pande also made a derogatory comment in a similar vein. Responding to the post, which has been deleted now, she wrote on X: “Yes, I am a housewife. By reading Hindi newspapers, I keep myself informed daily about the wholesale and retail rates of commodities available in the market.”

National in-charge of the BJP’s Information & Technology department Amit Malviya slammed the Congress, saying, “This is a concerted attempt by the Congress to malign Kangana Ranaut. Not just Supriya Shrinate but Mrinal Pande has also made a similar comment.”

The now-taken down derogatory post on Instagram, which was made a day after the BJP fielded Kangana Ranaut from Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi, showed a photo of scantily-clad Kangana Ranaut, with a derogatory caption. Himachal Pradesh happens to be Kangana’s home state.

Malviya has urged Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge to sack Shrinate. “Congress’s Supriya Shrinate makes an obnoxious comment on Kangana Ranaut in an Insta post. It is so disgusting that one can’t help, but ask – how does Congress collect so much filth in one place? If Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has any say in the party, he must sack her immediately or else resign,” he said.

BJP spokesperson Poonawalla refused to buy Srinate’s explanation, and said, “No matter how many excuses she makes, the fact is that the post was not removed until we raised an objection to it… There should be strict action against it… We also request the Election Commission to take action against this.”

He further asked, “How come a Gujarat Congress leader (H S Ahir), Supriya, Mrinal Pande (Cong ecosystem) & hundreds of others posted the same line of attack on Kangana at the same time? Coincidence? Secondly, how come Supriya did not realise for a long time that such a post was made? Did she not get notifications of her own account? Thirdly, how many people handle her account? How is it taking so long to identify this ‘culprit’? Why has she not filed an FIR against this person yet? Fourthly, is this how they handle Congress accounts? Post without final check? Of Course not. Lastly, this means she sanctioned the said post, which abuses not only Kangana but the entire Mandi, Himachal & Bharat ki Naari Shakti.”

“Look at the track record of her own language and also of her party on women’s issues – Sandeshkhali to Shanti Dhariwal to Lal Singh getting tickets. It all adds up to one conclusion: Congress insulted Nari Shakti on purpose,” the BJP spokesperson added in his post on X.

The National Commission for Women has also taken cognisance and filed a complaint with the Election Commission. The women rights body said, “The National Commission for Women is appalled by the disgraceful conduct of Ms Supriya Shrinate and Mr H S Ahir, who made lewd and derogatory remarks about @KanganaTeam on social media. Such behaviour is intolerable and goes against the dignity of women. @sharmarekha has sent a letter to the Election Commission of India demanding an immediate and strict action against them. Let’s uphold respect and dignity for all women.”

Mr Tawde said “… Our delegation met the Election Commission today… We mentioned the varied responses of the electoral officers in different states… The Election Commission will look into it.”

H S Ahir, State Joint Coordinator, Kisan Congress Gujarat, had also posted an objectionable comment on Ranaut’s candidature, which he deleted later. Ahir, who had posted an abusive remark against actor Ranaut, said, “Someone who had access to his X accounts had posted an absolutely disgusting and objectionable post, which has been taken down.”

Curiously, the language of his tweet was similar to what Congress national spokesperson Shrinate had posted as outrage swept over her Instagram post.

NCW Chief Rekha Sharma said that it was very unfortunate that a woman was using such derogatory language against another woman. “NCW has taken it very seriously. We have written to the Election Commission to take stringent action against the party and the leader. Not only one leader but two leaders are saying the same thing on Twitter and later denying that they have made such a post. They owe an apology to Kangana…”

She further said: “They are big leaders in their party and better conduct is expected from both of them… I hope that Sonia Ji will take action against both of them… Kangana’s reply was very dignified and she took a stance with dignity. A complaint has already been sent to the Election Commission…”

The actor, in her tweet, has given a very dignified reply to Shrinate’s Insta comment, saying that people should refrain from using sex workers’ challenging lives as some kind of abuse, adding that every woman deserves her dignity.

“Dear Supriya ji, in the last 20 years of my career as an artist, I have played all kinds of women. From a naive girl in Queen to a seductive spy in Dhaakad, from a goddess in Manikarnika to a demon in Chandramukhi, from a prostitute in Rajjo to a revolutionary leader in Thalaivii. We must free our daughters from the shackles of prejudices, we must rise above the curiosity about their body parts and above all we must refrain from using sex workers challenging lives or circumstances as some kind of abuse or slur… every woman deserves her dignity…”

She also said people of Mandi have been insulted by Shrinate’s comment.

LoP Himachal Pradesh Assembly, Jairam Thakur said that the BJP was working towards taking legal action in this matter. “It has become the Congress’s habit to insult women- ‘Matru Shakti’. The whole of Mandi and Himachal Pradesh is angry. The Congress will have to pay for this,” he said.

Congress-run state CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said she is the daughter of Himachal and her parents live here. “Her father was made the General Secretary of Congress in Mandi… We started Mahila Samman Nidhi by distributing Rs 1500 among the women…”

Former president Pranab Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee said nothing was left of Congress ideology with the ‘Rahul-Congress gang’.

On Shrinate’s claim that several people had access to her social media account and someone had shared the objectionable post on her account, Mukherjee said one allowed his or her social media access to people whom they could trust.

“She’s saying ‘access’, not hacked! One gives access to SM accounts only to known & trusted people. Nothing left of Congress ideology with the Rahul-Congress gang. ‘Nari Nyay’ is nothing but an empty slogan by a bunch of hypocrites!” she wrote on the microblogging site X.