Mandi: Actor Kangana Ranaut, making her political debut as the BJP candidate from Himachal Pradesh' Mandi, has taken a huge lead as per initial trends by the Election Commission. With a lead of over 70,000 votes, Ms Ranaut seems headed towards a huge win.
The 37-year-old Bollywood star took a jibe at rival Congress candidate Vikramaditya Singh saying that he might have to now "pack his bags and leave".
The actor's remarks were directed at allegations that she will pack up and return after the elections to Mumbai leaving Mandi behind.
"They will have to suffer the consequences of talking so low about a woman... And that is becoming clear today with the way we have got the lead. Mandi has not taken kindly to the insults for daughters," Ms Ranaut told ANI.
The BJP, which won all Lok Sabha seats in 2014 and 2019, was banking high on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "charisma" after his three election rallies to retain all parliamentary seats and win six Assembly seats, while the Congress was eyeing its strong vote bank of 2.5-lakh government employees, whose demand of restoring the old pension scheme has been implemented by its government led by Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.