India
Debate or dodge? Amit Shah’s challenge puts Rahul Gandhi in spotlight as Sitharaman and JD(U) turn up the heat
New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah’s challenge to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for a debate in Parliament has received backing from his Cabinet colleague Nirmala Sitharaman and NDA ally Janata Dal (United), with both urging the Leader of Opposition to accept the offer.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman took a swipe at Gandhi, questioning why he was reluctant to debate in Parliament while repeatedly challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi on social media.
In a post on X, Sitharaman said Parliament was already an appropriate venue for the debate, pointing out that Gandhi himself serves as the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
She referred to Shah’s offer to convene a special session of Parliament to discuss issues relating to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
Sitharaman said Gandhi should demonstrate the same enthusiasm for parliamentary discussions that he showed while issuing public challenges. She also stressed that seeking answers from the government required being willing to listen to its response.
The Finance Minister further said that Gandhi’s repeated references to democracy and the Constitution should be reflected in his conduct towards parliamentary institutions. She urged him to present facts, face scrutiny and participate in debates in the House.
JD(U) national spokesperson Rajeev Ranjan Prasad also called on Gandhi to accept Shah’s challenge, saying that anyone who believed in parliamentary democracy should raise their concerns through Parliament.
Speaking to the Press Trust of India (PTI), Prasad said Gandhi should use the proposed special session to discuss all the issues he wanted to bring before the government.
Shah had issued the challenge on Tuesday, offering to convene a special parliamentary session to debate concerns surrounding EVMs, SIR and alleged infiltration.
Speaking during the BJP’s ‘Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy’ padayatra in Hyderabad, Shah accused Gandhi of obstructing parliamentary proceedings and questioned his commitment to constitutional principles.
He said the government was prepared to hold a special session and invited the Congress leader to participate in a discussion on the issues he had repeatedly raised.
Prasad, meanwhile, referred to the Supreme Court proceedings concerning petitions related to the SIR exercise in Bihar. He said the court had recognised the Election Commission’s authority to conduct the revision, arguing that the process was being undertaken within the legal framework.
He accused Gandhi of adopting an approach that undermined parliamentary democracy if he refused to participate in the proposed discussion.
The Congress, however, has countered Shah’s offer, demanding that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar be removed and the SIR exercise suspended if the Home Minister was genuinely interested in holding a debate.
Meanwhile, Gandhi renewed his challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, calling for a public debate on allegations concerning nationalism and alleged links with foreign forces.
In a post on X, the Congress leader said the discussion could take place at any venue and invited Modi to choose the platform.
Gandhi proposed that both leaders sit across a table, with the media and young people present, and suggested that Modi could appoint anyone of his choice as the moderator, even RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
The exchange has intensified the political confrontation between the BJP and Congress, with both sides insisting that the other should accept their proposed debate.