Kangana sweats it out against royal scion

AMONG the most watched duels this poll season is the one at Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi where Bollywood ‘Queen’ Kangana Ranaut is cutting her electoral teeth on behalf of the BJP against Vikramaditya Singh of the Congress. It’s like an open air theater where an ebullient but inexperience candidate is sweating it out against a seasoned neta.

- HARPREET BAJWA

Kangana’s glam quotient is high but so is her tendency for loose talk by straying off the script, making headlines for all the wrong reasons. The party is learning to manage the impulsive actor and trying keep her away from harm’s way.

Her opponent is a pedigreed minister in the Sukhvinder Singh ‘Sukhu’ government, as he is a scion of the erstwhile Rampur royal family. The son of late six-time CM Virbhadra Singh, he was the face of intra-par- ty rebellion in the state till Sonia Gandhi personally requested him to enter the fray. That gave him an opportunity to prove his leadership credentials.

Both sides are indulging in name calling as Kangana labeled Vikramaditya ‘Chhota Pappu’ — a pejorative linked to party leader Rahul Gandhi — and a spoilt prince. For his part, Vikramaditya called her a comedian and a political tourist.