'Spend more time in India' Rijiju takes jibe at Rahul list conditions for Cong to "win more MPs"

New Delhi, Nov 4 (PTI) Taking a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday listed some conditions for Congress, saying if the opposition party wants to "win more MPs", then their senior leader must spend more time in India and stop meeting anti-India people.

     Rijiju has been taking on Gandhi and other Congress leaders for demanding an open debate with the prime minister.

     In a post on X on Wednesday, he said that Congress can "win more MPs" if Rahul Gandhi meets seven conditions.

     Listing these conditions mockingly, Rijiju said Gandhi should "spend more time in India and avoid secret foreign vacations frequently."

     He also asked the Congress leader to respect seniors and gain valuable wisdom from the elders, which is Indian tradition.

     The senior BJP leader further advised Gandhi not to meet "anti-India people and stop promoting their agenda."

     As the fourth condition, the minister asked Gandhi to "end deep hatred against BJP, RSS and Modi Ji" and "treat BJP as political opponent, not enemy."

     He also asked the Congress leader to take "Parliament more seriously" and let MPs take part in debates and discussion. "Respect Constitution of India, and honour Constitutional Institutions, and allow Congress party to function as a democratic party and smash dynastic politics," he listed them as the last two conditions.

     Earlier in the day, Rijiju had posted a video clip of his speech in Parliament when the opposition leaders had walked out of the house.

     "Parliament is the House for debates & discussion. But people who don't believe in democracy, debates and discussion are talking about debate," the parliamentary affairs minister said.

     Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday dared Prime Minister Modi once again to debate him openly and said he guaranteed that it would be proved in five minutes that the PM was a traitor, inviting a sharp response from Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

     After Gandhi's challenge, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the prime minister should come forward and face the questions on "vote theft" that the nation was posing.

     "PM Modi is parroting his flop line of Dimaagi Naxal'! He has NO answer on Vote Chori and the Open Challenge by Rahul Gandhi to discuss how he mortgaged Indian interests to Foreign powers!" Kharge said.

     Rijiju hit back in a post on X, saying, "Kharge Ji, Dimaagi Naxal is a term not a narrative. Only following are Dimaagi Naxals: Who support Maoists agenda, and reject Indian Constitution. Who stand with the separatists & support Article 370. Who want to stop the development projects of India. Who conspire to cut chicken neck to separate North-East from India."

     Gandhi on Tuesday had challenged Modi to an open debate on his charge that the opposition is anti-national and asked why the prime minister has not filed a defamation case against him over his foreign connections allegation.

     He accused Modi of occupying the PM's chair with foreign help, within a day of his earlier challenge for an open debate with the prime minister for accusing the opposition of taking foreign help to destabilise the country.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)