`We have said the same thing…`: Sanjay Raut backs Rahul Gandhi over his `kerosene` remark against BJP

Targetting the Modi govt, Rahul Gandhi had said in the UK, `India is not in a good place. BJP has spread kerosene all over the country. You need one spark and we will be in big trouble.`

New Delhi: Backing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his scathing remarks against the Narendra Modi-led central government, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday (May 21) said his party has also said the same thing, however in different words, PTI reported. Addressing the reporters in Mumbai, Raut said, "What he said is true. We have said the same thing in different words." "It is like strangulating the country's democracy with the help of central probe agencies," the Shiv Sena leader added. Further, the chief spokesperson of Shiv Sena stated that those who speak against the Centre have to face probe by the central agencies, adding that this is not “ good for democracy." "The people in our country are scared and not ready to speak the truth. Anyone who speaks against the Union government faces a series of probes from the central agencies," the Rajya Sabha MP said. 

Rahul Gandhi targeted the Centre at the ‘Ideas for India’ conclave, organised by a non-profit think-tank Bridge India, in London on Friday. The Congress MP had created furore in the BJP by saying that the saffron party has “spread kerosene all over the country”. In a sharp attack on the Centre, Gandhi said India is not in a "good place" and emphasised that the Opposition needs to bring "people, communities, states, and religions" together. The former Congress chief said, "India is not in a good place. BJP has spread kerosene all over the country. You need one spark and we will be in big trouble. I think that is also the responsibility of the opposition, the Congress to bring people, communities, states, and religions together."

"We need to cool this temperature down because if it doesn`t cool down, things can go wrong," Gandhi said at the conference. 

Reacting to Rahul Gandhi’s statements, the BJP hit back saying the Congress has been carrying kerosene oil to incite riots since the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia also accused Gandhi of harming India in his "hate" against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

(With agency inputs)