Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh on Monday, said the "company Varun Gandhi keeps is real culprit" behind his alleged communal statement made during an election rally in Pilibhit.

"I am not surprised (at the stand taken by the BJP). I consider Varun Gandhi a lesser criminal. His mindset, which has been polluted by the company he keeps is the real culprit," the SP general secretary told reporters here.

He was responding to a question on the stand of BJP that EC could not decide on debarring Varun from contesting Lok Sabha elections.

"The words he used are a product of his thinking. This once again proves that we have to tackle the mindset which assassinated Mahatma Gandhi," Singh said.

Claiming that the thinking had "its roots in RSS and Hindutva," Singh said, "The mindset of Narendra Modi is more dangerous than he himself is."