‘24 hours have passed’: Rahul Gandhi renews debate challenge to PM Modi, Amit Shah says govt ready

A day after challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi to an open debate, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday renewed his call for a discussion on allegations of foreign influence, the country's financial system among other issues.

Gandhi asked PM Modi to choose any venue for the open debate. Amit Shah said the government was willing to discuss all matters in Parliament. (PTI)Shortly after his call, Union home minister Amit Shah reiterated that the government was ready to discuss every issue in Parliament and challenged the Congress leader to take part.

On X, Rahul Gandhi said the debate should be held in the presence of the media and young people. He also suggested that anyone chosen by Modi, including Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, could moderate the discussion.

"It has been 24 hours, Modi ji. I have challenged you. You say that the Opposition is anti-national. Pick any stage, any venue, and debate me. Who is anti-national? Who has links with foreign forces and what kind of connections are they?" Gandhi said in Hindi.

"Do it as soon as possible. Don't be afraid," he added. Gandhi said the discussion should cover the country's financial system and financial structure. He also questioned how the US deal was negotiated, why it was finalised in a hurry and why the Cabinet was allegedly not informed about it.

"Why did you take this decision alone? Why wasn't the Cabinet informed? Why was the (Gautam) Adani case closed? What about (Jeffrey) Epstein?" Gandhi asked. The Congress leader also referred to the defamation cases filed against him, claiming that he faced around 45 such cases.

He said no defamation case had been filed over his remarks about foreign connections and invited the Prime Minister to take legal action if he wished. ALSO READ | Rahul Gandhi dares PM Modi to open debate after Amit Shah's challenge to discuss SIR in Parliament "Let us separate the truth from the lies.

You make allegations against me, don't you? Come, and everything will become clear," he said, ending the video with a Diwali greeting to Modi. Rahul Gandhi also posted a poll on X, asking young Indians whether they wanted to see an open debate between him and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Youth of India, Do you want to see a Rahul Gandhi vs Narendra Modi open debate?" he asked, tagging defence minister Rajnath Singh, Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

He urged them to convince Modi to participate, saying, "you always have the PM’s best interest in mind, please convince him to come." The poll offered two options: "Yes - Modi Ji, Daro Mat" and "No - Modi Ji, Dar Gaye." Shah targeted Rahul during his visit to Raipur on Tuesday.

The Union minister accused the Congress leader of supporting the “Maoists concept of a Janatana Sarkar (people's government)”. Speaking at the concluding ceremony of Chhattisgarh Rajyotsav, Shah alleged that the Congress had always supported “Naxalism.” ALSO READ | Rahul Gandhi can only be PM in mock Parliament, says Amit Shah Shah also said the Modi government was ready to discuss the issues of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, EVMs, and alleged infiltration during a special session in Parliament.

“Be it EVMs, SIR, infiltrators, I challenge you from Hyderabad. We are ready to convene a special session of Parliament. Come for debate,” he said. BJP MP Nishikant Dubey challenged the Congress to a debate at its party office, saying he was ready to discuss documents, issues and the party's alleged links with foreign powers.

“I am ready to come to the Congress office to debate with you on papers, issues, and your collaboration with foreign powers—fix the day and time. Get satisfied with me first, then challenge our leaders,” Dubey wrote on X.

Earlier, Union parliamentary affairs minister Kiren Rijiju criticised Gandhi over his debate challenge, accusing him of advancing the interests of India's enemies while questioning others' foreign links.