Karnataka elections: B.S Yeddyurappa accepts Siddaramaiah debate challenge

Karnataka BJP’s Chief Ministerial candidate, B.S. Yeddyurappa has accepted Siddaramaiah’s challenge for an open debate. On 6th May, Siddaramaiah targeting both PM Modi and Yeddyurappa, challenged Yeddyurappa for an open debate. He tweeted, “PM Modi is deliberately confusing Karnataka voters with his bombastic speeches on non-issues. All hot air & no substance. My contest is not with him. It is with Yeddyurappa. I challenge him to an open debate on issues on a single platform. Will he accept? Modi is also welcome! (sic.)”

B.S. Yeddyurappa accepted the challenge and asked Siddaramaiah to look at his Hublot watch and fix a time for the debate. Yeddyurappa tweeted, “I think your Hublot watch suggests you the right time to show up for a debate. 1. Do get Vijay Eswaran, your fugitive friend along. 2. Do carry the diary of L Govindaraju. 3. Let us also debate: Turning Lokayukta Powerless, Farmers’ suicides, Sand Mafia, Honest Officers’ Transfer.”

The Hublot watch was in reference to an accusation made by the BJP against Siddaramaiah. BJP accused that the watch was gifted to him by an ill- famed businessman, Vijay Eswaran, who is ‘wanted’ in many nations for financial frauds. The BJP accused Siddaramaiah of facilitating the operations of QI Group of Companies, headed by Vijay Eswaran. This is a clever move. Not only did he accept the challenge, he also mentioned the ‘Hubot watch’ as a sarcasm.

This open debate challenge game started with Rahul Gandhi , where in one of his statements he challenged PM Modi for a 15 minutes debate. PM Modi responded by asking him to speak for 15 minutes without a piece of paper. After this Rahul Gandhi went silent and asked his troll team to attack on PM Modi.

The Congress then retreated on the back foot until Siddaramaiah, in an attempt to turn the tables, challenged Yeddyurappa for a debate. This can also be seen as an attempt to protect Rahul Gandhi. Siddaramaiah wants to portray Karnataka Assembly elections as a contest between him and Yeddyurappa, but for many it is seen as a contest between Rahul Gandhi and PM Modi. Till now Rahul has not responded anything about PM Modi’s challenge to him. This sends a message that Rahul Gandhi is incapable of speaking without a paper for 15 minutes. It would be interesting to see whether this debate takes place or not. Let’s hope that it’s not going to be another ‘only noise and no substance’ from the side of Congress. 

Debates are good and healthy for a democratic government, it helps in the improvement of the political discourse of a nation. But here it looks like Congress is digging its own grave. Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s 15-minute debate challenge has already turned into a laughing stock.  This debate culture doesn’t suit them, and this move will probably turn out to be suicidal. Very soon people will be questioning Rahul to debate PM Modi, and on the basis of  the interview with Arnab Goswami prior the 2014 elections, it’s not a good idea for him. Debates are not Congress’ cup of tea.