Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday renewed his challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an open debate regarding allegations of foreign connections. Gandhi said, "Choose any stage, any venue, and debate me on this." He also wished the Prime Minister a happy Diwali while questioning why no defamation case was filed.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addresses the INDIA bloc's 'Chalo Dilli' protest rally against alleged electoral irregularities and demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, at Ramlila Maidan, in New Delhi. PTI
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday renewed his challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an open debate on his allegation that the Opposition has "foreign connections" and is "anti-national", asking him to choose the venue and even appoint RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat as the judge.
Wishing Modi a happy Diwali, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha also questioned why the prime minister had not filed a defamation case against him over his allegations of foreign links, despite having filed several such cases on other issues.
"It's been 24 hours since I challenged you, Modi ji. You say the Opposition is anti-national. Choose any stage, any venue, and debate me on this - Who is anti-national? Who has connections with foreign forces? And what is the nature of those connections? Let's do this as soon as possible. Daro mat!," Rahul said in a post on X.
He proposed that the debate be held in the presence of the media and the country's youth, with both leaders seated across a table and Modi free to choose the judge.
"We'll both be there. The media will be there. The youth of this country will be there. There will be a table. You'll sit on one side, I'll sit on the other. You can appoint whoever you want as the judge. You can even make Mohan Bhagwat ji the judge," Rahul said.
The Congress leader said the debate would cover several issues, including the financial system, the financial structure, the India-US deal, the Adani case and the Epstein matter.
"How the US deal happened, why it happened and why so quickly, why you made the deal alone and didn't inform the Cabinet, why the Adani case was closed, Epstein - and many other issues," Rahul said, listing the subjects he wanted to discuss.
"We'll discuss all of them openly. Let the truth come out. Let everything be crystal clear. You make allegations against me, don't you? Come forward. Everything will become clear," he added.
Rahul also questioned why Modi had not initiated defamation proceedings over his allegations of foreign connections, pointing out that several such cases had been filed against him on other matters.
"You've filed defamation cases against me over other matters. I think there are around 45 defamation cases against me. But on this issue of the debate, on the question of foreign connections, you haven't filed a defamation case. Go ahead, file one. We'll discuss that openly too. Happy Diwali, Modi ji," he said.
Rahul's fresh challenge came a day after he accused Modi of taking foreign help to occupy the prime minister's chair and alleged that the Opposition was being accused of seeking foreign assistance to destabilise the country.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju mocked Rahul's challenge, comparing it to "Islamic fundamentalists talking about secularism".
"Top level debates are done between matured people (sic)," Rijiju said in a post on X.
Reacting to Rahul's Monday post, he said, "It's same as Islamic fundamentalists talking about secularism, separatists holding Indian flags and anarchists showing Constitution book."
"Pushing agendas of India's enemies yet accusing others of foreign support is self-ridiculing," the senior BJP leader added.
Modi had earlier alleged that obstructionist forces were attempting to divide the country and that social media was being used to spread rumours.
During his Gujarat visit on Saturday, the prime minister said, "When the country was seeking solutions to external challenges, some forces within the country were also creating instability by spreading lies and rumours. But the countrymen stood shoulder to shoulder with the nation."
Taking a swipe at the Opposition, Modi said it had become an "Avrodh Paksh" instead of a "Virodh Paksh".
"It is our misfortune that at this time in the country, the opposition has turned into an Avrodh Paksh rather than Virodh Paksh. In their frustration, these people are standing as obstacles in the way of the country's development. This is not opposition; this is obstruction," he said.