In a recent political development, Union Minister Smriti Irani raised a sharp challenge to Congress Leader after he readily acccepted an invite to debate Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the current critical election issues. Questioning Gandhi’s readiness to engage in a debate with Prime Minister Modi, the Lok Sabha candidate from Amethi, Irani stronlgly cited his reluctance to contest from his historical stronghold, Amethi and raised her doubts.
The Gandhi family has had political legacy for decades from the Amethi constituency with Rahul Gandhi representing the seat since 2004 until his defeat in 2019. However, in the on-going elections, Gandhi filed his nomination papers from the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat, a constituency held by his mother Sonia Gandhi for the past two decades instead of Amethi which has roused lot of political discussions.
In response to Gandhi’s challenge for a debate, Irani remarked, “Firstly, the person who does not have the courage to contest against a normal BJP worker in his so-called castle, should refrain from boasting. Secondly, who wants to sit at the level with PM Modi and have a debate, I want to ask him if he is a PM candidate of the INDI alliance?”
Also read: Rahul Gandhi Offers Debate Challenge to PM Modi, BJP Questions Candidacy
Gandhi’s acceptance of the debate invitation came following an invitation from Justice (Retd) Madan B Lokur, Justice (Retd) Ajit P Shah, and journalist N Ram, aimed at fostering informed decision-making among citizens. Gandhi expressed eagerness for either himself or Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge to participate in the debate.
Replying to the invitation, Rahul Gandhi confirmed that such debates are significant to help the voters understand the respective visions of the political parties and can put any unsubstantiated allegations to rest to clear the clouds of misunderstandings among the voters while they cast their precious votes. “Accordingly, either myself or the Congress president would be pleased to participate in such a debate,” Gandhi stated in his letter replying to the invitation.
“The country also expects the Prime Minister to take part in this dialogue,” he added.
Asserting his preparedness for the debate, Gandhi claimed he was “100 per cent” ready to take on PM Modi but expressed doubt that the Prime Minister would agree to participate. The acceptance of the debate invitation marks a significant development in the political discourse leading up to the upcoming elections.
