'She should not forget her roots': Congress MLA defends call to ‘teach a lesson’ to Rashmika Mandanna

Congress MLA Ravikumar Gowda Ganiga has doubled down on his remarks regarding actress Rashmika Mandanna, rejecting criticism from former Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar and asserting his stance on Kannadiga identity. “Being a Kannadiga, I stand by the statement I gave. I am proud to be standing with my motherland, my language, and my people,” he said while speaking to news agency ANI.

Ganiga accused Mandanna of disregarding Karnataka despite her success in the Kannada film industry. “We are proud of Rashmika Mandanna; she is a Kannadiga. We called her, but she said she did not have time for Kannadigas. Is this the way to treat Kannadigas?” he questioned.

He further said that Mandanna should acknowledge her roots. “Kannada is her motherland. Karnataka is the base of her career, and she should respect her motherland. Now, she is working in Bollywood, but she should not forget her roots,” he said. Addressing the backlash, he clarified, “I am not calling for rowdyism.”

Ganiga’s comments came after he alleged that Mandanna refused to attend the International Film Festival despite repeated invitations. “She said, ‘I have my house in Hyderabad, I don’t know where Karnataka is, and I don’t have time. I can't come,’” he claimed, adding that a legislator visited her house 10–12 times to persuade her. “Shouldn’t we teach them a lesson?” he had said.

The remarks sparked outrage, drawing a sharp response from Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who accused the Congress leader of attempting to intimidate the actress. “You can never separate goon from Rahul Congressman. This pompous overblown #Karnataka MLA from constitution-waving Rahul Gandhi's party wants to ‘teach a lesson’ to an actress,” Chandrasekhar wrote on X.

Taking aim at the Congress leadership, he said, “I want to tell DK Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah to read up on the constitution — every citizen, including an actress, has rights. And don’t forget, your goon MLA has obligations to respect law and rights of citizens.”

Chandrasekhar also offered to school Ganiga on constitutional rights. “If he wants a ‘lesson’ in the constitution, I/we will be happy to ‘teach’ this goon—free of charge—anytime, anyplace. Call me!” he said.