Raut backs Rahul Gandhi as next PM

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday backed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to become the next Prime Minister of India. Even as the exit polls conducted by various agencies and news channels indicated that the Narendra Modi-led BJP will form the the next government, the Shiv Sena UBT leader was upbeat about the chances of the INDIAbloc. He said that the next PM will be from the INDIA bloc and Mr. Gandhi is the people’s choice.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has already made it clear that Mr.Gandhi is his choice as a representative of the youth and the Country. Agreeing with the Congress national president, Mr Raut said that the way Mr.Gandhi had worked hard in this election; there is no parallel to him.

“The People have accepted Mr. Gandhi’s leadership. “he INDIA alliance is winning…after 12 pm on June 4, you will know that the Prime Minister will be from the INDIA alliance. Mallikarjun Kharge had stated Rahul Gandhi is his choice for Prime Minister. In my opinion, he is the choice of the whole country. All of us will be backing Rahul Gandhi,” Mr. Raut said.

Shiv Sena (UBT), which is an alliance partner of Congress and Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP) in Maharashtra, has contested on 23 seats out of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra, while Congress and NCP (SP) have contested on 17 and 10 seats respectively.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his 45-hour-long meditation at the Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Tamil Nadu's Kanyakumari. Calling Mr. Modi’s mediation as “drama”, Mr. Raut said that with the help of 27 cameras, Narendra Modi is doing meditation.

“In olden days, Rishis and Munis of the country meditated without cameras and security personnel. It appears as if these 27 cameras are his disciples. His meditation is being covered from all the angels. This is an insult to our Lok Sadhana,” Mr. Raut said.