Supriya Shrinate triggered a massive row with an offensive post on Kangana Ranaut (File)
The Congress today replaced Supriya Shrinate as a candidate from the constituency she contested in 2019, amid roaring outrage over her remarks on actor Kangana Ranaut, the BJP's pick from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi.
Ms Shrinate had contested the last Lok Sabha polls from Maharajganj in Uttar Pradesh but lost to BJP's Pankaj Chaudhary.
This time, Congress has named Virendra Chaudhary as its choice from the seat, replacing Ms Shrinate, caught in a massive political whirlpool over her post on Kangana Ranaut.
Ms Shrinate told NDTV that she wanted to focus on her job as the social media head and had asked the party not to field her in the elections. She said she had also suggested a candidate to replace her.
On Monday, an offensive post was put out from Ms Shrinate's Instagram account with a picture of Ms Ranaut and a derogatory caption. Ms Shrinate promptly clarified that several people have access to her social media accounts, and one of them made the inappropriate post.
"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 in the day, the Election Commission issued a show-cause notice to Ms Shrinate over her post.
The Congress announced its eighth list on Wednesday for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, naming 14 candidates for four states - Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, and Jharkhand. The party has announced 208 candidates so far.
The party has fielded Rao Yadvendra Singh against Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia in Madhya Pradesh's Guna and Pratap Bhanu Sharma against former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Vidisha. Tarvar Singh Lodhi has been nominated from Damoh.
In Jharkhand, it named Kalicharan Munda from the Khunti (ST), Sukhdeo Bhagat from Lohardaga (ST), and Jaiprakashbhai Patel from the Hazaribagh parliamentary constituencies.
In Telangana, the party fielded Suguna Kumari Chelimala from Adilabad, Tatiparthi Jeevan Reddy from Nizamabad, Neelam Madhu from Medak, and Chamala Kiran Kumar Reddy from Bhongir.
In Uttar Pradesh, the Congress nominated Dolly Sharma from Ghaziabad, Nakul Dubey from Sitapur, Shivram Valmiki from Bulandshahr (SC) seat, and Virendra Chaudhary from Maharajganj.