Sangrur: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday escalated his confrontation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, repeating his demand for a one-on-one debate and declaring that he could establish in just five minutes that it is Modi—not the Congress—who deserves the “anti-national” label, PTI reported.
“Come anywhere, sit with me and debate. I will prove within five minutes that Modi is an anti-national,” Gandhi said.
The Congress MP was addressing the party’s ‘Insaaf Rally’ in Sangrur, staged to kick off its campaign for Punjab’s assembly elections early next year. He used the platform to turn the BJP’s “anti-national” charge back on the prime minister and to accuse him of serving corporate interests rather than ordinary citizens.
Mic Charge, Parliament Jab
Gandhi also ridiculed the BJP’s offer to call a special parliamentary session for a discussion on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. He argued that the government’s willingness to debate inside Parliament rang hollow because opposition voices were routinely curtailed there.
“They say have a discussion in Parliament, but you switch off my mic; you don’t let me speak…” he said.
His remarks came a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Centre was prepared to summon a special session of Parliament to discuss the SIR exercise, while daring the opposition to take part in the debate.
Accusing Modi of favouring big business, Gandhi said, “He works for Adani. He hands over the entire country’s land, infrastructure, and airports to them. He will not work for the farmers. He will not work for small and medium businesses; the Congress will.”
‘Pick Any Judge’
Revisiting the challenge he issued a day earlier, Gandhi said the prime minister should stop hiding behind parliamentary procedures and face him directly.
“Narendra Modi says the Congress is anti-national. So, I issued a direct challenge to him yesterday. I said, look Modi ji, come anywhere, sit with me and debate. You sit on one side of the table, and I will sit on the other, and debate.
“You can pick the judge you want, even Mohan Bhagwat. If you want to make Adani the judge, make him sit in front of you. It won’t matter. If you want to hold the debate in NDTV’s studio, hold it there. You just come and sit in front of me, and then let’s talk about who’s anti-national.
“But I can tell the country – Modi cannot come and sit in front of me. His leaders are saying, ‘let’s discuss in Parliament’, but you switch off my mic there. You just don’t let me speak in Parliament.”
Gandhi then made an even sharper claim about the prime minister’s relationship with the United States.
“If you make him sit in front of me, I am guaranteeing you, I will prove that Narendra Modi is anti-national in five minutes. I will prove that Donald Trump controls Narendra Modi,” he claimed.
Turning to trade policy, the Congress leader alleged that Modi rushed through an agreement with Washington without following due process.
“He neither told the Cabinet nor any bureaucrat (about the deal). Trump threatened him, and he signed the US deal. He handed over India’s farmers, small and medium industries, and data to Trump.
“Trump keeps saying he stopped the India-Pakistan war (last year), but Modi cannot even utter a word to counter the claim,” Gandhi alleged.
He also sought to link the trade deal to legal proceedings against the Adani Group in the United States.
“There was a case against Adani in the US. You can Google it. But after the US deal happened, Trump got the case closed. What greater proof can be there?” the Congress leader said.