On the dais at The Telegraph debate 2006. A Telegraph picture

The tradition of the argumentative Indian will come alive in the city on Sunday evening when eminent personalities from diverse backgrounds will engage in a war of words at The Telegraph Calcutta Club National Debate.

With the general elections scheduled for 2009 and Assembly elections across the country throwing up surprise results, the motion could not have been more relevant — This house believes that a coalition government reflects the true nature of Indian society.

Those batting for the motion will include Sheila Dixit, the chief minister of Delhi, and Sanjiv Goenka, the vice-chairman of the RPG group. Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, the information and broadcasting minister, and Salman Khurshid, a former minister of state for external affairs, will speak against the motion.

The other speakers will include Ravi Shankar Prasad, a former information and broadcasting minister, cardiac surgeon Kunal Sarkar, Roopen Roy, the managing director of Deloitte and Touche Consulting India, and politician Sougata Roy.

Rudrangshu Mukherjee of The Telegraph will be the moderator for the evening. The debate will start at 6.30pm.

One of the most important events in Calcutta’s intellectual calendar, this annual debate triggers a big fight on diverse issues.

Among those who have voiced their opinions on this platform are Arun Jaitley, Vasundhara Raje, Salman Khurshid, Mani Shankar Aiyer, Narendra Modi, Pramod Mahajan, Barkha Dutt, Lalu Prasad, Mark Tully and Amar Singh Chaudhury.