New Delhi: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleged that “dimagi Naxals (ideological supporters of Naxalism)” have infiltrated several organisations and are instigating people, Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi renewed his challenge to Modi for a debate on who is anti-national and who is controlled by foreign forces.“Dear @crpfindia, Your faces said it all: you didn’t buy the PM’s lies. He called us Naxals. My challenge stands. Let him debate me on who is anti-national and who is controlled by foreign forces. Any time, any place. My guarantee: after the debate, the PM won’t have the guts to stand in front of a single jawan again,” Gandhi posted on X on Monday (November 9).Dear @crpfindia,Your faces said it all: you didn’t buy the PM’s lies.He called us Naxals.My challenge stands. Let him debate me on who is anti-national and who is controlled by foreign forces. Any time, any place.My guarantee: after the debate, the PM won’t have the guts to stand in front of a single jawan again.प्रिय @crpfindia के जवानों,आपके चेहरों ने सब बता दिया – आपको प्रधानमंत्री के झूठ पर भरोसा नहीं।उन्होंने हमें नक्सली कहा।मेरी चुनौती क़ायम है। वो मुझसे बहस करें – देशद्रोही कौन है और विदेशी ताक़तों के इशारे पर कौन चल रहा है। कोई भी समय, किसी भी जगह।मेरी गारंटी: उस बहस के बाद प्रधानमंत्री में एक भी जवान के सामने खड़े होने की हिम्मत नहीं होगी।— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 9, 2026Earlier on Sunday (November 8), while addressing security personnel on the occasion of Diwali at a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in Karanpur in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar district, Modi had said that while Naxalites have been eliminated, the threat is not over as “dimagi Naxals” have taken control of several organisations including political parties and are instigating people against the Constitution and democracy.“Even today, they are instigating people against the country’s Constitution and democracy. They have infiltrated several political parties and different organisations. We must identify and defeat them and secure the country,” Modi said on Sunday, reported Press Trust of India.Since November 2, LoP Gandhi has multiple times challenged PM Modi for a public debate over the latter’s remarks on several occasions suggesting that a conspiracy was afoot, indirectly referring to opposition parties.On November 3, Gandhi had 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 post, asking them to “please convince him to come” to a debate.The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Union 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 along with the demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar. The government has also moved to block critics online.During his Independence Day address to the nation on August 15, Modi had said that “dimagi Naxal” are looking for an opportunity, looking to see ways of violence, and trying to drag the country to a wrong path. Modi had said that such people should be “identified and isolated.”