Actress Kangana Ranaut has called herself a ‘Netawadi’ (follower of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose) and not a ‘Gandhwadi’ (follower of Mahatma Gandhi). On Thursday, Kangana attended the inauguration of the revamped Rajpath – Kartavya Path in Delhi. Talking to reporters, Kangana said that the struggles of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Veer Savarkar have been ‘completely sidelined’. Kangana also said that India did not achieve independence only by doing ‘hunger strike and Dandi March’.
Kangana said in Hindi, “I have always said that I am a Netawadi (Netaji Subhash Chandrawadi), not Gandhwadi. Everyone has their own way of thinking and I believe that Netaji and many other revolutionaries who struggled like Savarkar Ji, a right wing ideologue who wrote multiple mercy petitions to Britishers while he was in Jail, was completely sidelined. Only that side was shown that we have achieved independence by doing hunger strike and Dandi march. It is not so.”
She also said, “Lakhs of people sacrificed themselves. Netaji campaigned around the world to bring forth the dire situation of India by taking part in World War 2. He also built an army and had active participation thus building pressure on the British. He gave the power to whoever he wanted, he wasn’t hungry for power. He was hungry for freedom and he made the country free.”
Significantly, you don’t find a single picture of Kangana Ranaut paying tribute to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose on the internet before this event. However, there are multiple pictures of her paying tribute to Savarkar on the Internet.
Apart from this, on the question on the name of Kartavya Path, Kangana Ranaut said, “This is the path of duty, many generations will lead by example and walk on it. If you keep the name Rajpath, it will not lead by example, but the Kartavya Path is the path of duty, this will serve as guidance to people.”