Arvind Kejriwal invites Sonia Gandhi, PM for public debate on corruption

Civil rights activist and India Against Corruption (IAC) spearhead Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday invited Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi to have a public debate with him on the issue of corruption.

Using the medium of micro-blogging site Twitter to respond to Congress leader Digvijaya Singh's verbal and written vitriol against him, Kejriwal said he would reply to all of Singh's questions in a public debate with Sonia Gandhi and Dr. Manmohan Singh, if the latter could convince them both to attend. "We had put some questions to Mr. Robert Vadra and the PM. Let them answer first. Then, we will answer all questions from Mr. Digvijay," Kejriwal tweeted.

"I request Mr. Digvijay to encourage Mrs. Gandhi, PM or Mr. Rahul Gandhi to come for a public debate. Place n time of their choice. Let's question each other n let public question us on personal n public issues. Digvijay ready?," he added.

Kejriwal said that if Singh failed to convince Sonia Gandhi and the PM, it would give an impression that the Congress general secretary is doing all this for cheap publicity and divert attention. Kejriwal's tweets came a day after Singh asked the India Against Corruption (IAC) activist 27 questions.

Singh asked Kejriwal about foreign funding of an NGO with whom he is associated and violation of service rules while he was an Indian Revenue Service officer.

Singh had also called Kejriwal a "self-serving ambitious megalomaniac with scant regard for democracy", also asked him why he "never raised" the issue of corruption in Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states. IAC, however, described the questions as diversionary tactics for switching the attention of the people from real issues of ever increasing corruption and the issues that affect their daily lives.

It said these questions will be placed before the people who would decide about them.

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