Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman urged Rahul Gandhi to take his debate challenge to Parliament, calling it the proper forum for questions.
In a post on X on November 3, Sitharaman reminded Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, that he could make his case in Parliament. She pointed to Home Minister Amit Shah’s offer to convene a special session on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Gandhi had called for an open debate with Modi at any venue. He challenged the charge that the Opposition was anti-national and asked about foreign links. He named the India-US trade deal, the Adani case and the Epstein controversy as issues for discussion. His claims about foreign links were allegations, not established facts.
Sitharaman questioned why Gandhi was pressing for a debate on social media while, she alleged, Congress members had walked out or disrupted proceedings during government replies. “Demanding answers also carries an obligation to hear them,” she wrote, urging him to bring evidence and stay in the House for responses.
She also criticized a mock parliamentary exercise at Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence, calling it a mockery of parliamentary proceedings.
Shah offered a separate SIR and EVM debate. Sitharaman cited that offer to support her case for using Parliament; her post described the proposed session as a forum to debate SIR and EVMs in Parliament. No mutually agreed date or format for a Gandhi-Modi debate had been announced as of Wednesday.

AdvertisementThe Puranic