Smriti Irani's ‘open debate challenge’ to Gandhi siblings: ‘Bhai-behen…’; Congress reacts

Union minister and Amethi MP Smriti Irani.

Union minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday responded to Priyanka Gandhi’s claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not speaking based on facts in his speeches, challenging the Congress general secretary and her brother Rahul Gandhi to have an open debate on any issue with a Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra earlier on Wednesday alleged that PM Narendra Modi has been “using his imagination a lot” and challenged him to speak on issues of unemployment, price rise and farmers’ plight. Reacting to the Congress leader’s allegations, Smriti Irani asked the Gandhi siblings- Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi – to specify any television channel, anchor, place, time and issue to speak on, of their choice.

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“I challenge them (Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi) to pick any channel, anchor, place, time and issue to debate with the BJP. Dono bhai-behen ek taraf aur BJP ka ek pravakta ek taraf, doodh ka doodh, paani ka paani ho jaayega (On one side, there will be the brother-sister duo and on the other side, there will be a spokesperson of the BJP; everything will be clear)…” Smriti Irani told news agency ANI.

“From our party, Sudhanshu Trivedi is enough. They will get an answer,” the Union minister, who is contesting from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi in the Lok Sabha elections 2024, said.

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Reacting to Smriti Irani’s comments, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate challenged the minister to have a debate with her.

“I challenge you to have a debate with me. The place is yours, the day is yours, the anchor is yours and the issue is also yours. Do you have the courage? You don’t have the stature to talk to the top leadership of the Congress. Stop fighting for your existence through these flowery statements, accept the challenge,” Supriya Shrinate said in Hindi on social media platform X. (formally Twitter).

In Amethi, Smriti Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi by 55,000 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections ending the Gandhi family’s stint on the seat. Amethi and Rae Bareli — two constituencies considered old turfs of the Gandhi family – has again become the point of focus as Rahul Gandhi has entered the fray in Rae Bareli and the family’s close aide Kishori Lal Sharma has been fielded against Smriti Irani in Amethi.

In an interview with news agency PTI, Priyanka Gandhi responded to the prime minister’s claim that the Congress would take away reservation to benefit minorities and that the party would reverse the Supreme Court verdict on the Ram temple if voted to power.

“In the last week or 10 days, I have been noticing that he (Modi) is using his imagination a lot in his speeches. He is not speaking on facts. He does not have the respect for the people of this country to speak based on facts, based on the truth,” PTI quoted the Congress leader as saying.

“He is saying all sorts of things from we are going to steal people’s buffaloes, to us having X-ray machines and going to people’s houses and finding their jewels and taking it away. Frankly, if it wasn’t the PM saying this, coming from such a dignified, serious post, we would laugh,” she added.

(With inputs from agencies)

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