'Respect Indira ji, defend her even when Cong won't,' says Raut making don 'social worker'

After courting controversy over his statement of 'Indira Gandhi meeting underworld don Karim Lala', Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut in his defence has w changed im of Karim Lala from an underworld don of yesteryears to a leer who worked for welfare of Pathans. He said that t just Indira Gandhi but several politicians used to meet Karim Lala. 

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"Karim Lala was a leer of an organization called Pakhtun-e-Hind which worked for welfare of Pathans in India. He h come from Afghanistan and he was associated with Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan. He used to meet n Prime Minister Indira Ji and several or politicians. His home was filled with photographs of him with several politicians."

After angering Congress with his comparison, Raut said, "If someone misinterprets my statement or puts it in a misleing way n it is ir political compulsion. I have always respected Indira Ji, Pandit Ji, Rajiv Ji and all our leers. Congress leers should especially kw that whenever people used to comment or even till date if anybody comments on Indira Ji, I have always stood for her when Congress has stayed quiet". 

Shiv Sena MP has also taken to Twitter to defend his statement.

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In ar tweet, he lauded former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who imposed emergency, calling her iron ly.

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Raut's statement

In an interview with a local Marathi news ncy on Wednesday, Raut claimed that Indira Gandhi met with underworld don Karim Lala. Talking about past influence of underworld over Mumbai, he claimed that underworld decided who will be city's commissioner and in state secretariat. Moreover, he claimed that entire secretariat would meet don Haji Mastan when he was in town.