Congress leader Rahul Gandhi openly challenged Prime Minister of India to have a open debate over key election issues. In response to this union minister Smriti Irani took a dig at Gandhi if he is the prime ministerial candidate of the INDIA bloc and if he could debate with someone as prominent as PM Modi.
Smriti Irani who is the BJP candidate from Amethi, told news agency ANI, "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 level with PM Modi and have a debate? I want to ask him if he is a PM candidate of the INDIA bloc."
On Saturday, Rahul Gandhi, who is contesting from Kerala's Wayanad and Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli seats, formally accepted an invitation to a public debate with PM Modi on the Lok Sabha polls. The invitation was extended by former Supreme Court judge Madan B Lokur, former High Court Chief Justice AP Shah, and senior journalist N Ram. Gandhi expressed that such a debate "will help people understand our respective vision and enable them to make an informed choice." He also stated that either he himself or Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge would be pleased to participate.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Smriti Irani criticized Kharge for questioning the accuracy of the voter turnout data in the Lok Sabha elections and launched a strong attack on the Congress.
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"Congress talked about counting the wealth of the people. It showed the way to take away half of the property of the citizens. Congress speaks of reversing the decision on Ram Temple. All of these issues are national issues and not just the PM, but every citizen has the right to have an opinion on them," she remarked.
"If Kharge ji thinks that the aware voters and citizens should not take an interest in national politics, then maybe he thinks that everyone has thoughts like Rahul Gandhi," she added.
Kharge had previously penned a letter to leaders of the INDIA bloc alleging discrepancies in the voting data released by the poll body. He shared the letter on X platform and asserted that the "credibility of the Election Commission" was at an all-time low.