Sangrur: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday renewed his challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for an open debate over the latter's allegation that the Congress is anti-national, claiming he could prove within five minutes that the prime minister himself fits the description.

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"Come anywhere, sit with me and debate. I will prove within five minutes that Modi is an anti-national," Gandhi said.

He was addressing an 'Insaaf Rally' in Sangrur as the Congress launched its campaign for the Punjab Assembly elections scheduled for early next year.

Gandhi also took a swipe at the BJP over its proposal to convene a special session of Parliament to discuss the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, alleging that opposition leaders were not given an opportunity to speak in the House.

"They say have a discussion in Parliament, but you switch off my mic; you don't let me speak…" he said.

On Tuesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said the government was ready to convene a special session of Parliament to discuss the SIR exercise and challenged the opposition to participate in the debate.

Accusing Modi of favouring billionaires at the expense of farmers and small businesses, Gandhi alleged that the prime minister was working for industrialist Gautam Adani.

"He works for Adani. He hands over the entire country's land, infrastructure, and airports to them. He will not work for the farmers. He will not work for small and medium businesses; the Congress will."

Reiterating his challenge to Modi, Gandhi said the prime minister could choose the venue and even decide who would moderate the debate.

"Narendra Modi says the Congress is anti-national. So, I issued a direct challenge to him yesterday. I said, look Modi ji, come anywhere, sit with me and debate. You sit on one side of the table, and I will sit on the other, and debate.

"You can pick the judge you want, even Mohan Bhagwat. If you want to make Adani the judge, make him sit in front of you. It won't matter. If you want to hold the debate in NDTV's studio, hold it there. You just come and sit in front of me, and then let's talk about who's anti-national.

"But I can tell the country – Modi cannot come and sit in front of me. His leaders are saying, 'let's discuss in Parliament', but you switch off my mic there. You just don't let me speak in Parliament."

Gandhi further alleged that Modi had surrendered India's interests to US President Donald Trump and claimed that the American leader exercised control over the prime minister.

"If you make him sit in front of me, I am guaranteeing you, I will prove that Narendra Modi is anti-national in five minutes. I will prove that Donald Trump controls Narendra Modi," he claimed.

He also alleged that Modi had signed the US trade deal within five minutes without consulting his Cabinet or senior bureaucrats.

"He neither told the Cabinet nor any bureaucrat (about the deal). Trump threatened him, and he signed the US deal. He handed over India's farmers, small and medium industries, and data to Trump.

"Trump keeps saying he stopped the India-Pakistan war (last year), but Modi cannot even utter a word to counter the claim," Gandhi alleged.

Referring to the US case against Adani, Gandhi alleged that the proceedings were dropped following the India-US trade deal.

"There was a case against Adani in the US. You can Google it. But after the US deal happened, Trump got the case closed. What greater proof can there be?" the Congress leader said.