Kangana Reacts as FM Sitharaman Reminds Jaya Bachchan's Past

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman responded to Jaya Bachchan's remarks by recalling how her party's alliance partner demolished Kangana Ranaut's office in 2020.
• Sitharaman urged Jaya Bachchan to speak to her alliance partners about the incident, highlighting the intimidation faced by Kangana.
• Kangana thanked the minister for addressing her struggles and for pointing out the violation of her constitutional rights.
• Jaya Bachchan criticized the government for neglecting the film industry, pointing out the rise in costs and closure of single-screen theaters.

Kangana Ranaut responded after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman backed her and addressed actor and Samajwadi Party member Jaya Bachchan's recent remarks. Jaya had accused the government of attempting to "kill" the film industry and called for it to show "mercy."

FM reminds Jaya Bachchan how her ‘alliance partner’ demolished Kangana Ranaut's office

On X (formerly Twitter), the official account of Nirmala Sitharaman's office highlighted how the Maha Vikas Aghadi government, of which Jaya's party was an alliance member, had "intimidated and demolished" Kangana Ranaut's office in Mumbai within 24 hours.

The Finance Minister also advised Jaya to "speak to her alliance partners about that." On Friday, Kangana thanked the minister for bringing attention to how her "constitutional rights were crushed by the arrogant political parties."

On Thursday evening, @nsitharamanoffc tweeted, "Jaya Ji has alleged that the Film Industry hasn't been supported by the government. However, she will well remember Hon'ble MP (LS) Smt Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam). The MVA Govt, her alliance partner, in September 2020 in Mumbai, intimidated Ms Ranaut & in a notice of 24 hours, demolished her office until the Bombay High Court intervened. Jaya Bachchan Ji must speak to her alliance partners about that."

"Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Lata Mangeshkar Ji's brother, got fired from All India Radio because his composition didn't sit well with the Congress party. Also, Majrooh Sultanpuri was jailed. Dev Anand was threatened for not supporting the Emergency. Kishore Kumar was also pulled off air," it read.

Kangana thanks Nirmala Sitharaman

Reacting to the tweet, Kangana wrote, "Thank you honourable @nsitharaman ji for highlighting all the support and encouragement film industry getting from our government also as a woman you highlighted my struggles, how my constitutional rights were crushed by the arrogant political parties. Thanks a lot (folded hands emoji)."

What Jaya had said

During the General Discussion on the Union Budget 2025-26 in the Rajya Sabha, Jaya urged the government to present proposals to support the film industry. She highlighted that daily wage workers were struggling and single-screen theatres were closing due to the rising costs, which had deterred people from going to movie halls.

"One industry has been totally ignored by you, and other governments were also doing the same thing. But today you have taken it to the next level. You have totally ignored the film and entertainment industry because you only use them for serving your own purpose. Today, leave aside GST, all the single screens (theatres) are shutting down. People are not going to movie halls because everything has become so costly. Perhaps you want to kill this industry altogether. This the only industry that connects the entire world to India," Jaya had said.

She appealed for "mercy" for the country's audio-visual industry and accused the government of targeting cinema. "I am speaking on behalf of my film industry and making a request to this House on behalf of the audio-visual industry, that please spare them. Please have some mercy for them. You are trying to kill this industry. Please do not do this.. Today you have started targeting cinema also," the actor had added.