"We are not contesting against any individual but...," Kuldeep Singh Rathore

Speaking to ANI, an AICC spokesperson asserted that they are also "proud Hinudus," adding that it is the BJP's call to give Kangana Ranaut a ticket from Mandi.

"We are also proud Hinudus. If the BJP has given Kangana Ranaut a ticket from Mandi, it is their own decision. Now she is in the political field and is contesting the elections. She is commenting against the senior leaders of the Congress party and if she raises questions against Congress leaders, then she will have to answer. There are issues about her eating beef, her unawareness of the first prime minister of India and the freedom of India on social media and whatever she has said, she is now answering and defending her own statements. People are against her statements. We are not contesting against any individual; we are fighting against an ideology that is against the Constitution and a threat to democracy in the country," Rathore said.

Earlier, addressing a press conference in Shimla, Kuldeep Singh countered the BJP and said that the BJP's ship will sink due to the increasing burden. "People coming from outside have increased the burden of this ship."

"I agree that our people have joined the BJP but our organisation is strong. As far as they say, the Congress is a sinking ship. For those who have left Congress and joined them, I have the assumption that their ship will be overloaded and will sink soon. We would win all the seats and very soon our central election committee would finalise the candidates," said Rathore.

At the same time, Rathore has once again cornered the Central Government on the issue of apples. He said that the Central Government had made election promises to the orchardists of the state but on the contrary, under the BJP rule, the apple economy of the state is in crisis.

"During the elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made big promises to the apple growers. The central government reduced the import duty. In such a situation, due to an increase in the import of apples, the apple economy of the state is in crisis. Iran's apples have started arriving in the market. The orchardists had stored their apples in the hope of getting good prices, but now they are not getting good returns and this is having a bad effect on the entire apple economy. It is seen that this time the price of local apples is Rs 800 to 1200 per box which was around Rs 2000 last year; the cost of cold storage comes to Rs 400 per box; and the effect of pollution in the Kotgarh area," he added.

Earlier, Maharashtra Leader of Opposition, Vijay Wadettiwar, also alleged that Kangana Ranaut had once tweeted that she liked and consumed beef and the party has now given her a ticket to contest the upcoming elections.

Kangana recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. The party has fielded Kangana from the Mandi constituency for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The elections to the four Lok Sabha seats of Himachal Pradesh and bypolls to the six assembly constituencies that fell vacant with the disqualification of six rebel Congress MLAs and their eventual switch to the BJP will be held on June 1. (ANI)