'Those who do not respect women can never win': Kangana Ranaut after MVA’s Maharashtra loss

NEW DELHI: BJP MP and actor Kangana Ranaut on Sunday criticised the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), likening it to a "daitya" (demon) and attributing its electoral loss to alleged disrespect towards women.

A day after Mahayuti swept Maharashtra assembly elections, 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."

Kangana Ranaut, who has had a tumultuous history with the Uddhav Thackeray-led MVA government, referred to the 2020 incident when the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), then under Shiv Sena control, demolished parts of her Bandra bungalow over alleged illegal alterations.

"They demolished my home and verbally abused me. Those who do not respect women can never win," she alleged, adding that Thackeray faced the same fate as a "daitya."

Before the demolition, Ranaut had controversially said that she felt more threatened by the Mumbai Police than the "movie mafia" and compared Mumbai to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, triggering a heated exchange with the state government.

Earlier, while addressing reporters at Bhuntar airport in Himachal Pradesh, Ranaut lauded PM Modi's leadership, calling him "invincible" and the driving force behind India's progress.

"The people of Maharashtra voted for development and a stable government," she said. Congratulating Modi and the BJP on their electoral success, she added that the BJP high command would decide the state's next chief minister.

The Mahayuti coalition retained power in Maharashtra, securing an overwhelming 230 of the 288 assembly seats. In contrast, the Congress-led MVA alliance suffered a major blow, winning just 46 seats. None of the MVA's constituents met the minimum threshold required to claim the Leader of the Opposition post in the assembly.