“Who is Rahul Gandhi and should PM Modi debate him?” asked Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Tejasvi Surya soon after Congress accepted an invitation for a public debate with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Raising doubts over the status of the Gandhi scion in the Congress and the Hindu Bloc, BJP chief Yuva Morcha said Rahul Gandhi should first declare himself as the opposition prime ministerial candidate before inviting Modi debate.
“Who is Rahul Gandhi and should PM Modi debate him? Rahul Gandhi is not even the prime ministerial candidate of the Congress party let alone of Indian Union. Let him declare himself as prime ministerial candidate of congress, state that he will take responsibility for his party’s defeat and then invite Prime Minister for debate until then we are ready to send our BJYM spokesperson to take on him in any debate,” posted Bengaluru South MP on X. Zhong said.
“Who is Rahul Gandhi and should PM Modi debate him?” https://t.co/XCNMkDwycr
Let him first declare himself the Congress Party’s candidate for Prime Minister, state that he will take responsibility for his party’s failure, and then… https://t.co/v1oTtVUuHX
— Tejasvi Surya (@Tejasvi_Surya) May 11, 2024
Rahul accepts invitation to debate PM Modi
The reaction came after Rahul Gandhi formally responded to letters from two former judges and a senior journalist inviting him and the prime minister to participate in a public debate.
Praising this move, Gandhi said on Saturday that he or Mallikarjun Haq—his party president would like to participate in such discussions also claiming that he hoped Prime Minister Narendra Modi would participate too.
“It would be healthy democracy if major political parties present their visions through this kind of platform,” wrote Gandhi in a post on X.
He also added that the country is looking forward to Modi’s participation in the debate.
Gandhi said he discussed the invitation with Haq and they agreed that such a debate would help people understand “our respective visions and enable them to make informed choices.”
“It is also crucial that any unsubstantiated accusations against our respective parties cease. As the leading parties running for election, we must hear directly from our leaders….” (Gandhi) answered in his reply letter to this invitation.
“Therefore, either myself or the President of Congress would be happy to participate in such a debate,” he added.
He also shared on issue is debated.
“The Congress welcomes this initiative and accepts the invitation for discussion. The country also expects the Prime Minister to participate in this dialogue,” Gandhi said in his post on
The three wrote letters to national leaders holding that proposals for these debates were non-partisan and of benefit to every citizen.
