Mumbai, Apr 30: Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut has said Indians were, in the past, enslaved by an 'Italian government', in a veiled jibe at the Congress party.
The 32-year-old, while speaking to reporters after casting her vote at a polling station in Khar area here on Monday, said, "This (polling day) is a very important day for us, it comes only once in five years. I feel India is gaining independence today in real sense. Earlier, Indians were slaves of British, Mughal and Italian governments. Please exercise your Swaraj (independence) and vote."
The 'Italian government' remark is an apparent reference to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, who was born and raised in Italy. Gandhi was the president of the Congress party for nearly two decades before handing over responsibilities to her son Rahul Gandhi in December 2017.
Kangana went on to say that the situation that prevailed in the country was the worst during Congress' government at the Centre.
"The political leaders used to chill in London and the country used to suffer from an array of issues like poverty, pollution, rapes etc. The situation in our country was worst when Congress was in power. Now that our time has come, we should vote in large numbers," she added.
Polling was held on Monday for 72 seats across nine states including five seats in Bihar, one in Jammu and Kashmir, three in Jharkhand, six each in Madhya Pradesh and Odisha, 13 each in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, eight in West Bengal and 17 in Maharashtra.
An overall voter turnout of 64.05 per cent was registered in the fourth phase of polling.
Seven-phase elections will end on May 19, and results will be declared on May 23.
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