/
Rahul Gandhi says the PM taps his phone and renews a debate challenge: what each side says
Rahul Gandhi said on 13 November that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has his phone tapped and renewed his demand for a one-on-one debate. He offered no verifiable evidence in the reports seen. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Home Minister Amit Shah said Parliament is the place for debate.
S
4 min
Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said on Friday, 13 November 2026, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has his phone tapped, and renewed a challenge to the Prime Minister to a one-on-one public debate. He said in remarks reported that day: "The Prime Minister is aware of this because he has my phone tapped." The reports available do not describe any verifiable evidence for the claim, and no official denial of the phone-tapping charge itself was reported. Union ministers replied to the debate challenge by pointing to Parliament. This report sets out what each side said and is for information only.
What Gandhi said
Gandhi claimed that his phone holds evidence about people he says are controlled by foreign powers and involved in anti-national activity, and that the Prime Minister knows this because the phone is being monitored. He said he had received further information about the monitoring during an Instagram interaction. Accounts differ on whether the phone-tapping allegation first appeared in a video on X or in the Instagram session. He did not say who is carrying out the alleged tapping, what device or number is involved, or what proof he holds.
On the debate, he said he is ready to debate "any time, any place" and that a debate would show who acts at the behest of foreign forces. He argued that Parliament is not a suitable venue because he is not allowed to speak in the House, his microphone is switched off, and he has been blocked from raising the farm laws, the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, and China. He said he would have no objection if the industrialist Gautam Adani or the head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Mohan Bhagwat, served as judge, and he asserted that Modi would not remain in office after facing him.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said Parliament already provides a venue and urged Gandhi to show some seriousness and responsibility as Leader of the Opposition. Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday that Gandhi should raise his issues in Parliament, the right forum, and that the Centre would call a special session if the Congress formally asked for one. A BJP response quoted in reports told Gandhi to "get his head examined". These replies address the debate challenge. The accounts seen do not report any government statement on whether Gandhi's phone is being tapped.
| Question | Gandhi | Government and BJP |
|---|---|---|
| Is his phone tapped? | Yes, and the PM knows | No reply reported to the claim itself |
| Evidence offered | None verifiable in reports | Not applicable |
| Where to debate | One-on-one, any time and place | In Parliament; a special session if the Congress asks |
| Parliament as a venue | Not suitable; microphone switched off | Already the right forum |
The claim and the record
Allegations of surveillance of opposition leaders have a history in India. The Pegasus spyware controversy of 2021 led the Supreme Court to appoint a technical committee, and in 2022 the court said the committee had found no conclusive evidence of the spyware on the phones it examined, though it noted that the government had not cooperated fully. That record shows how hard such claims are to settle: a phone can be examined by forensic experts, and the results are not always conclusive. Gandhi's claim, in the form reported, has not been tested in that way.
Parliament's procedures matter here too. The Leader of the Opposition has a recognised place in debate, but the Speaker and the chairman control the floor, and a special session can be called by the government on a request from a party only if the government agrees. Shah's offer to call one if the Congress asks formally is conditional on that request, and the Congress has not said whether it will make one.
The claim also arrives days after the release of Sonia Gandhi's memoir, and the two have been run together in the political debate, with the BJP responding to both on the same day.
The wider fight
The exchange comes amid a broader confrontation over the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, which the opposition has criticised. Gandhi also commented on Sonia Gandhi's memoir, Belonging: A Journey of Love, saying "it is a great book, they are all reading it", and dismissing the BJP's criticism as publicity. The BJP says the book seeks to justify the Emergency and gives a clean chit to Rajiv Gandhi over the 1984 riots, while Congress leaders have praised it as candid.
Readers should treat the phone-tapping allegation as unproven. It is an assertion by a political leader, made without documents in the accounts available, and the way to test it would be a forensic examination of the device or a statement from the agencies named, neither of which has been reported. The debate challenge, by contrast, is a public offer that the Prime Minister's side has answered, so the next step is whether either party formalises a venue.
Sources
About the Author
S
Subhash Gupta
Desk Editor
Subhash Gupta is a writer at Wirony, contributing articles that are reviewed and verified by the editorial team before publication. The publication prioritises accuracy, editorial…
S
4 min
What did you think?
