Actor-turned-BJP MP Kangana Ranaut and Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) spokesperson Saurav Das traded sharp barbs on Wednesday as the controversy over the actor-politician's remarks describing Gen Z as "Generation gutter" escalated.
Ranaut on Tuesday sparked a political row after posting strongly worded Instagram Stories targeting the CJP-led agitation over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination.
Responding to her posts, Das said Ranaut's language was unbecoming and questioned her mental stability, while accusing her of trying to "ride the CJP wave".
"These words do not seem to come from a person who is mentally stable. Because you would not use this kind of language against young people. If there is a young person in your family who belongs to Gen Z or Gen Alpha, would you use such language against them?," he said.
Das also took a swipe at Ranaut's performance as a parliamentarian.
"I don't have much to say about Kangana Ranaut, her own party members don't take her seriously. There are videos of her from her constituency where she is meeting people and telling them, 'Aap log to bohat kaam karate ho. Mujhe to laga tha ki MP banke zyaada kaam nahi hoga. Lekin yaha par to mujhe roz kaam karna pad raha hai.' So that's the kind of seriousness with which she sees her own work," he said.
"It's fine, I think she is trying to ride the CJP wave. We said this before, anybody who wants to take credit or fame from the current movement, they are free to do so and so is Kangana," he added.
Das' remarks prompted the BJP MP from Himachal Pradesh's Mandi to dismiss him as "totally useless and unemployed".
Ranaut responded in a fresh Instagram Stories post.
"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 of her work as an MP, Ranaut said she might be new to politics but had been in public life for the past 20 years.
"At his age, I had two National Awards. Yes, as a new parliamentarian, I was overwhelmed with all the work because I am also a filmmaker, performing artist, producer, screenwriter, and entrepreneur. But someone like him, who is totally useless and unemployed, will never understand what it means to be in massive demand at all times, at any age," she said.
"Dear Saurav, your issues are personal. You are not a student; you are simply useless. Let's start with learning some skill. It's a good place to start," she added.
The exchange came a day after Ranaut referred to young protesters as "Generation gutter" and questioned "who is birthing and raising them".
"Never in my life I have seen so much ugliness in one place, these reels from GenZ protests are puke-inducing, the way they speak and the kind of language they are using, never in my life I have seen everything in each and every frame so jarring and so crass all at ones, ewwww who is birthing and raising them?" Ranaut said.
In a follow-up post, the BJP MP went a step further and criticised young women who took part in the protests, saying their behaviour during the agitation was "most appalling".
"Here is a new generation of so called westernised Indian women. I call them Generation gutter," Ranaut said, adding that some of the women protesters were "so ugly and corrupt that they can't be home makers either".
Her remarks drew criticism from opposition leaders, including the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and AIMIM, as well as several social media users, who described the comments as insensitive and derogatory.
The CJP-led protests concluded on 25 July after the government accepted key demands of the protesters, including the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
(With inputs from PTI)
