Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Saturday slammed the Centre over claims that there is no LPG shortage in the country, calling it an official rumour being spread by the govt so that the price of cylinders does not increase. “The country is facing a very serious situation due to the war in the Gulf countries. There is no shortage of LPG, everything is in order … these rumours are being officially spread by the govt that the price of cylinders will not increase. But Prime Minister Modi is busy campaigning in states like West Bengal, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu,” Raut said.“There are queues for cylinders. It is a picture that cylinders will not be available for 25 days. Unorganised sector workers, who are mostly in the hotel industry, are 40% closed due to lack of LPG. Due to this, the issue of employment has arisen. CM Devendra Fadnavis, DCMs Eknath Shinde, Sunetra Pawar, Prime Minister, and Home Minister are not saying a word on this. The same terrible picture is being seen across the country, as people were killed in queues during demonetisation. This govt is anti-people. This situation was imposed on us due to its failure in international politics,” Raut said.“Rumours are being spread by India that there was dialogue with Iran. Iran did not say so. Dialogue with Iran is necessary. But with what face will they communicate? The PM did not express condolences regarding the killing of Iran’s supreme leader in an Israeli attack. Now, it is necessary to provide moral support to Iran. India should have taken a neutral stance and shared Iran’s grief. It is a very sad incident that more than 200 young girls were killed in this war. No condolences were expressed on it yet. Is our relationship with Iran only up to the point of allowing oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz? No, we have diplomatic relations with Iran,” Raut said.Meanwhile, Mumbai Mayor Ritu Tawde hit back at Shiv Sena (UBT) Sanjay Raut over his comments that the “world’s largest natural gas reserve was discovered in the Mithi River drain and the BJP has demanded that it be declared national wealth immediately”.“There’s a huge fuss about the discovery of the world’s largest natural gas reserve in the Mithi River, but what’s the reality? For the past 25 years, the ‘Penguin Sena’ in power in BMC turned Mumbai’s rivers into open drains. What kind of natural wealth is this? This is nothing but a stranglehold of their incompetence and extortion racket. We will conduct a thorough investigation into this ‘Mithi scam.’ This isn’t a gas reserve; it’s a monument to the corruption of Shiv Sena (UBT),” Tawde said in a post on X.
