People interested in what Rahul Gandhi has been saying, PM Modi’s support shrinking: Shiv Sena MP

“I believe that the atmosphere and the support that the Prime Minster had earlier, is not there today,” Raut said.

 

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut Thursday claimed that the people of the country were interested in what Rahul Gandhi has been saying in the past few days and he has emerged as a leader in his own right. “People these days want to hear Rahul Gandhi. I don’t think he is one (on whether it is fitting to call him a pappu). He is the working president of a political party. In this country, however, there is no harm in calling anyone a pappu as the voters of this country are very well capable of making any leader a pappu,” Raut said during a conclave organised by a media house in Mumbai.

“The people of the country are now interested in what Rahul Gandhi says and who he meets. This means that Rahul is emerging as a leader in this country,” Raut added. He also claimed that there was not the same level of support for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in India and people had now started questioning the government. “I believe that the atmosphere and the support that the Prime Minster had earlier, is not there today. If that support was still there, you would not have seen so many people out on the ground opposing government policies. If, after three years in power, the wishes of people remain unfulfilled, there is bound to be anger among the people,” Raut said.

Raut claimed that demonetisation had hurt the people and many had to lose their jobs. He, however, clarified that in spite of all this, he still believed that the BJP could win in Gujarat. “No one will say that the BJP will be defeated in Gujarat because they have all the money and the power,” Raut added.

The Shiv Sena, which is in alliance with the BJP in Maharashtra, is increasingly resentful of the BJP’s concerted drive to expand its footprint in the state. This resentment has meant that the party has been criticising the BJP almost every other day through its mouth piece Saamana.