Kangana Ranaut’s Remarks on Gen Z Protesters Trigger Political and Social Media Backlash

Actor and BJP MP Kangana Ranaut has come under criticism after a series of social media posts targeting Gen Z protesters associated with the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement. Her remarks, in which she referred to some demonstrators as the “gutter generation”, prompted sharp responses from CJP representatives, opposition leaders and several social media users, leading the actor to later issue a clarification through a video message.

The controversy surfaced days after the conclusion of the 36-day protest over alleged NEET examination irregularities, which ended after the Centre accepted key demands raised by the protesters, including the resignation of former Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

In one of her Instagram posts, Kangana Ranaut questioned the conduct of some protesters after videos from the demonstrations circulated online.

“Never in my life have I seen so much ugliness in one place… Who is birthing and raising them?” she wrote.

The BJP MP also criticised certain women participating in the protests, describing them as “ugly and corrupt” and referring to them as part of what she called the “Generation gutter”. Her posts quickly attracted widespread criticism across political and social media circles.

Kangana Ranaut Defends Her Stand; CJP Leaders Respond

A day after her Instagram posts, Kangana Ranaut defended her position while speaking to reporters in Parliament. Referring to videos allegedly showing abusive slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his late mother, she questioned the conduct of some protesters.

According to news agency PTI, Ranaut said protests should remain within democratic limits and argued that the language used by some demonstrators was inappropriate.

Her remarks drew immediate reactions from leaders of the Cockroach Janta Party.

CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke dismissed the controversy, saying, “Who even takes her seriously?”

The organisation’s spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka also responded, saying:

“Yes, we are the gutter generation. Coming out of the gutter, the cockroach movement got a minister to resign.”

Meanwhile, opposition parties, including the Congress, Samajwadi Party and AIMIM, criticised Kangana Ranaut’s remarks, accusing her of making sweeping comments about an entire generation of young people following the student-led movement.

Kangana Ranaut and Saurav Das Exchange Sharp Remarks Online

The controversy escalated further after CJP spokesperson Saurav Das criticised Kangana Ranaut’s comments during an interaction with PTI Videos.

Questioning the language used by the BJP MP, Das said such remarks should not be directed at young people and argued that disagreement with protesters did not justify generalising about an entire generation.

Das also questioned Ranaut’s comments about her responsibilities as a Member of Parliament, referring to an earlier video in which she had spoken about the workload associated with the role.

Kangana Ranaut later responded through Instagram, questioning how Das continued to describe himself as a student at the age of 28.

“I just googled this person, and he is 28 years old. And he claims to be a student. How he claims to be a student, I have no clue!!” she wrote.

Responding to Das’ criticism, Ranaut also said that by the same age she had received two National Awards and balanced multiple professional responsibilities, including filmmaking, acting, writing and entrepreneurship. She further described Das as “useless” while rejecting his criticism.

Kangana Ranaut Issues Clarification Amid Mounting Criticism

As criticism continued, Kangana Ranaut released a selfie video asserting that her comments had been misrepresented.

According to the actor, her criticism was directed only at what she described as the “gutter-level”, unethical and obscene behaviour of certain protesters and not at an entire generation.

She also alleged that sections of the media had selectively highlighted her remarks while ignoring instances where she had praised young entrepreneurs, NEET aspirants and members of Gen Z for their achievements.

Maintaining that her statements had been taken out of context, Kangana Ranaut said she objected only to specific conduct displayed during the protests and not to young people as a whole.

The controversy continues to generate political reactions and debate on social media, with both supporters and critics interpreting Kangana Ranaut’s remarks differently while discussions over the CJP-led protests remain ongoing.