During the Lok Sabha Election 2024, various political parties and candidates are competing for the seats in the Lok Sabha Election. At first, we have National-level parties like; BJP (Bhartiya Janta Party) and Indian National Congress (INC). Then, we have regional parties like; AAP (Aam Aadmi Party), TMC (Trinamool Congress), Shiv Sena, and many more. For a detailed listing on Lok Sabha Elections 2024 visit Newz Radar’s official website: Himachal, World and Cricket News, Today’s News Headlines (thenewzradar.com)

When Kangana comes to Mandi

Sometime in the early 2000s, a teenager defiantly set off from a Himachal village to chase her Bollywood dreams. As Kangana Ranaut returns home, this time as the BJP candidate, The Indian Express finds a village in waiting.

A BIG portrait of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, dwarfing two other framed pictures, one of Babasaheb Ambedkar and the other of Bharat Mata, and bright red plastic chairs neatly piled up. These are the only two giveaways of the impending elections at the red-tiled Ranaut mansion in Bhambla village of Mandi.

Over 20 km away, dressed in white, with a string of pearls around her neck, Kangana Ranaut stands in an open Gypsy on a Friday morning as slogans of “Kangana ji ko Jai Shri Ram… Modi ji ko Jai Shri Ram” fill the air.

Kangana, 37, is a natural as she effortlessly slips into her latest role — as the BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Mandi, the party’s first woman candidate from the seat in a general election. As her mid-sized convoy wends its way to Bhambla, where her family has organised a dhaam (Himachali feast) for the villagers, the crowd flocks to catch a glimpse of the girl who made a journey rare for these parts — all the way to Mumbai to act in movies. She had little going for her, except those impossibly defiant golden curls and a gumption that has defined her stint in Bollywood, where she took on some of the biggest stars and producers with her blunt talk.