On 13th November (Friday), Himachal Pradesh police filed an FIR against BJP MP Kangana Ranaut over her post regarding the Gandhi family. The action was taken in response to alleged “highly inflammatory insinuations” about the deaths of former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, as well as Sanjay Gandhi. The complaint was submitted by a man named retired Captain Atul Sharma, who is from Shimla.
On 10th November, Ranaut took to social media to share her views on an archival home clip featuring Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Maneka Gandhi alongside young Rahul and Priyanka. Interestingly, the video was made public on the same day that Sonia Gandhi’s controversial memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, was published.
A rare video from 1980–81 is going viral on social media, featuring young Rahul Gandhi chatting with his grandmother, former PM Indira Gandhi. The footage also captures Sonia Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi in the same frame.. #IndiraGandhi #RahulGandhi #SoniaGandhi #viralvideo https://t.co/Im4mKL2530
— TheNewsroomindia (@TNewsroomindia) November 10, 2026
Ranaut wrote that Maneka looked at Indira Gandhi “like a wounded little child seeking some comfort, maybe a little smile or a gaze in her direction.” The actor asserted that she appeared to be “hoping for one sign,” but all she received was coldness, and gradually disappeared “like she is there but doesn’t exist,” referring to the scene as “heartbreaking.”
The Bollywood star remarked, “On the other hand, everyone seems to be wrapped around the little finger of a mysterious foreign national who bumped into older son Rajeev Gandhi in a cafe abroad and, ever since, became inseparable.”
She mentioned that Sanjay, the younger son of Indira Gandhi, was receiving official training from her but passed away “mysteriously,” and his “vulnerable young window Maneka was thrown out of his house for random reasons, and shortly after that the mother-in-law and husband were also killed one after the other.”
Ranaut further conveyed that “mysterious foreigner Sonia Gandhi” was left to be the head of government, adding, “Wow, how convenient!”
The FIR was registered in accordance with Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 196(1)(b), 353(2), and 356(2). According to Gaurav Singh, the superintendent of police in Shimla, an inquiry would be conducted into the matter.
Sharma objected to Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the Congress, being referred to as a “mysterious foreign national.” He protested that the tweet stated how she reached a cafe overseas before the successive assassinations of Gandhi family members, placing her at the “head of the government,” along with the comment, “How convenient.”
Sharma claimed that the post could purportedly incite animosity, sabotage communal harmony, and jeopardise peace. He also contended that it amounted to allegedly disseminating false information that could provoke fear or worry and foster animosity between various groups.
On 12th November, he sent the complaint to the Director General of Police, demanding an FIR and a time-bound cyber-forensic inquiry into the post.
