New Delhi: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday (November 3) renewed his challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for a public debate on “who is anti-national” and posted an X poll with two choices posed to the “Youth of India” in response to the question, “Do you want to see a Rahul Gandhi vs Narendra Modi open debate?” He tagged members of the Modi Cabinet Nitin Gadkari and Shivraj Chouhan, and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath with the, asking them to “please convince him to come” to a debate.Youth of India,Do you want to see a Rahul Gandhi vs Narendra Modi open debate?@rajnathsingh ji, @nitin_gadkari ji, @ChouhanShivraj ji, @myogiadityanath ji – you always have the PM’s best interest in mind, please convince him to come.— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 3, 2026“Choose any stage, any venue and debate me: who is anti-national? Who has connections with foreign forces?” Gandhi wrote on X hours earlier, repeating a challenge he had thrown at the PM a day earlier.“Questions will come up about the financial system, the financial structure, how the US deal happened, why it happened, why so quickly, why you did it alone, why you didn’t tell the Cabinet, why the Adani case was closed, Epstein – there are so many things like that on which we’ll have an open discussion,” he wrote.Gandhi also accused Modi of “lying to the nation” and becoming PM with “foreign help”. “Your financial system is fully controlled and supported by foreigners. Foreign social media fully backs you. I challenge you to an open debate about this,” he wrote on X on Monday, Novemer 2.Modi, while addressing a rally on the birth anniversary of Congress leader and freedom fighter Vallabhbhai Patel on October 31 had said that “obstructionist forces” were trying to divide India and using social media to spread rumours.It was a day before thousands took to the streets on Sunday (November 1) as a united opposition INDIA bloc for a “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao” rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, demanding chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over the SIR.The prime minister floated the theory that a conspiracy was afoot, indirectly referring to opposition parites and Rahul Gandhi, saying, “After more than a decade of frustration and disappointment, these forces have now come out in the open. Who is secretly meeting whom abroad? Who is speaking the language of India’s enemies?”Also read: Modi: ‘Conspiracies’ Are Afoot to ‘Divide India’; Those Who ‘Opposed’ Somnath’s Rebuilding ‘Still Exist’The government has faced repeated protests since summer 2026, when students hit the streets demanding the resignation of the then education minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The repression of protests has prevented large crowds from gathering, but it has spurred people to oppose the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists more widely on social media. The government has also moved to block critics online.It is in this context that the prime minister delivered a speech on Patel’s birth anniversary in Gujarat, in which he said the opposition had made obstruction “the core” of its politics and made other allegations about them “dividing Mother India”.Gandhi has been responding to these innuendos since Monday, challenging the prime minister to a public debate through X posts, starting at 5 pm on November 2, in which he said he must accept it “if you have guts”.“You make allegations against me, don’t you? Come on, everything will be cleared up,” Gandhi then wrote on November 3. “On other matters, you’ve slapped me with defamation cases – maybe 45 defamation cases against me. But on this debate issue, on foreign connections, you’re not filing defamation. Go ahead, file one –we’ll discuss that openly too. Let’s discuss all of this, come on,” he said in the post.He also posted a video with a single red rose in his hand: “Desh ke yuva hongey, ek side aap hongey, ek side mai baithunga – jisko aap judge banana chahtey ho bana lo,” (The youth of the country will watch, you will be there, I will be there, and you can make anyone the judge.) Gandhi said.The poll addressed to the youth of India has got 2,11,661 (over 2.11 lakh) responses in 14 hours, with “Yes – Modi Ji, Daro Mat” (Yes, debate, don’t be scared) garnering 72.8% of the responses. “No – Modi Ji, Dar Gaye” (No, don’t debate, Modi ji got scared) got the rest.