MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said on Friday that a statement by him favouring Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi had been misinterpreted.
He said that his statement on Thursday was taken in a wrong context.Raut had, in a television discussion on Thursday, said that Gandhi was capable of leading the country and the Narendra Modi wave had faded.
“I had said that Rahul is capable of leading India, but it does not mean that he should become the prime minister of India”said Sanjay Raut.
Asserting that it would be unfair to call Rahul ‘Pappu’, Raut said, “Three years ago, we used to call him Pappu, but now the situation has changed.”
Lauding Rahul’s leadership, Raut said the way the Congress vice-president has been campaigning in Gujarat was commendable.
“Rahul is garnering the crowd’s attention in Gujarat. A lot of people gather to listen to his speech. Rahul Gandhi’s leadership has become prominent in the Congress now,” Raut said.
On the other hand, MNS chief Raj Thackeray said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is feeling threatened by Mr Gandhi in Gujarat.
Shiv Sena, the oldest constituent of the NDA, shares a ‘blow hot-blow cold’ relationship with its senior ally, the BJP, in the Centre and Maharashtra.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led party has been attacking Prime Minister Modi regularly and has often taken potshots at the BJP through editorials in the party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’.
