The Opposition leader's open challenge came in response to PM Modi's claims of ‘certain forces trying to divide the country.’
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Monday challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to an open debate, accusing him of coming to power and remaining in office with "foreign support". The call came in response to PM Modi's claims of certain "forces trying to divide the country” after the Opposition staged a protest against alleged electoral irregularities at Ramlila Maidan on November 1.
The Opposition has staged massive protests in recent months over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. However, the Election Commission and the government have rejected the allegations. Earlier in the day, Union home minister Amit Shah challenged Rahul Gandhi to a debate on the issue in Parliament, saying the government was ready to convene a special session.
Rahul alleges ‘foreign support’
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The Congress leader has alleged that India's financial system was “controlled” and backed by foreign forces, while foreign social media platforms supported the Prime Minister. He challenged Modi to debate the allegations at any venue and time.
“Mr Modi, stop lying to this nation," Rahul Gandhi wrote on X. "You became PM because of foreign help. You remain PM because of foreign help. Your financial system is fully controlled and supported by foreigners. Foreign social media fully backs you.”
“I challenge you to an open debate about this. Any stage, any time. Come if you have the guts. You won't dare, because you are terrified of what I know about you,” he added.
The Opposition leader's open challenge came in response to Modi's comments at the Rashtriya Ekta Diwas celebrations at the Statue of Unity in Ekta Nagar, Gujarat, on Monday. The event marked the birth anniversary of India's first home minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
Addressing the gathering, Modi accused certain forces of trying to divide the country and using social media to spread rumours and damage India's image.
“Certain forces are continuously engaged in conspiracies to divide the country... After more than a decade of frustration and disappointment, these forces have now come out in the open,” the Prime Minister said, as per news agency ANI.
He also questioned the alleged links between these forces and groups abroad, asking who was meeting whom overseas and which anti-India forces were supporting them. Modi urged people to recognise such activities and confront them together.
The Prime Minister also criticised the Opposition, saying its role in a democracy was to question government policies but that it had instead become an obstructionist force.
“In a democracy, the responsibility of the Opposition is to oppose government policies, but it is our misfortune that the Opposition (virodh paksh) has become an obstructionist force (avrodh paksh),” he said, accusing it of creating hurdles in the country's development and undermining the Constitution.
Rahul Gandhi's Ramlila Maidan attack on Modi, Shah
On Sunday, Gandhi and other INDIA bloc leaders held a major protest at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan against alleged electoral irregularities and the SIR exercise. The 'Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao' rally on November 1 followed a march from the Minto Road-Connaught Place junction to Ramlila Maidan. Leaders of 21 Opposition parties participated in the mobilisation, demanding the resignation of chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar and alleging large-scale deletion of voters from electoral rolls.
At the rally, Gandhi accused the Election Commission of facilitating vote theft and alleged that the BJP had benefited from manipulation of electoral rolls. He warned that Modi and home minister Amit Shah would face ‘legal action’ over the alleged irregularities after Kumar's removal.
The Congress leader described the CEC's removal as the first step towards restoring the country's democratic institutions. He also accused the Prime Minister and the home minister of being involved in the alleged electoral wrongdoing.
Other Opposition leaders, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee and RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, also addressed the gathering.
The Opposition has maintained that the SIR exercise could deprive eligible voters of their voting rights. The Election Commission, however, has defended the revision process, saying it is intended to remove duplicate and ineligible entries and update electoral rolls.
Amit Shah challenges Rahul Gandhi to debate SIR
Amit Shah on Monday challenged Rahul Gandhi to debate allegations of vote theft, electronic voting machines (EVMs) and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Parliament. Speaking at the BJP's 'Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy' padayatra in Hyderabad, Shah said the government was ready to convene a special session of Parliament for the discussion.
“Rahul ji, you don't allow Parliament to run. Be it EVMs, SIR, infiltrators, I challenge you from Hyderabad. We are ready to convene a special session of Parliament. Come for debate,” Shah said, as per PTI.
He also accused the Congress and other INDIA bloc parties of trying to stop the SIR exercise to protect illegal immigrants from Bangladesh, whom he alleged were part of their vote bank. Shah described the Opposition's rally at Delhi's Ramlila Maidan on Sunday as a 'Ghuspetiya Bachao' (Save Infiltrators) rally.
Rejecting Gandhi's claim that 13 crore voters' names had been deleted from electoral rolls, Shah said 6.15 crore people had shifted, nearly three crore were deceased and around one crore entries were duplicates. He alleged that the remaining three crore entries belonged to infiltrators and said the government would remove them from the electoral rolls.
Shah also questioned the Congress's criticism of EVMs, asking why the party had won assembly elections in states such as Telangana, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh if the machines were faulty.
He accused the Congress of questioning electoral processes only when it lost elections, while taking credit when it won.
