Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday alleged that his phone was being tapped and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi knew about it, renewing his demand for a one-on-one debate with the Prime Minister.
In a video the Congress posted on X, Gandhi said the device carried evidence about people he claims are controlled by foreign powers and involved in anti-national activity. He said the Prime Minister was aware of what it contained and that a direct debate would establish who was acting at the behest of foreign forces and for how long.
"The Prime Minister is aware of this because he has my phone tapped," he said. Once Modi agreed to such a discussion, he added, "everyone will learn who is under the control of foreign powers."
Gandhi said his challenge stood and that he was ready to debate "any time, any place". During an Instagram interaction, he said he had received further information about his phone being monitored and that a one-on-one format would prove who was working at the behest of foreign forces. Accounts differ on where the surveillance allegation was first made, with one report placing it in the video posted on X and another at the Instagram session.
Asked why he preferred a public debate to the debate that already takes place in Parliament, Gandhi said he was not allowed to speak in the House and that his microphone had been switched off. He said he had been stopped from raising the farm laws, the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, China and other subjects. He added that he had no objection if Adani Group chairperson Gautam Adani or RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat were appointed judge of the debate, and asserted that the Prime Minister would not remain in office after facing him.
The challenge has been turned down before. Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said Parliament already offers a venue and asked him to show "some seriousness and responsibility" as Leader of the Opposition. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday that Gandhi should raise the issues in Parliament, which he described as the right forum, and that the Centre would call a special session if the Congress requested one formally.
The exchange comes amid a wider confrontation between the ruling BJP and Opposition parties over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.
Separately, Gandhi dismissed BJP criticism of his mother Sonia Gandhi's memoir, "Belonging: A Journey Of Love", saying the attacks were giving the book publicity. "It is a great book, they are all reading it," he said during the Instagram session, and urged supporters to keep commenting because "the more you comment, the better it does". The BJP has said the book seeks to justify the Emergency and gives a "clean chit" to Rajiv Gandhi over the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, and argued it should have been titled "whitewashing". Congress leaders have praised it as candid.
(Compiled from media reports with the help of our in-house AI tools, and edited by our desk)