Arun Jaitley’s son criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday for claiming the late finance minister threatened him over farm laws, pointing out his father died a year before the legislation was introduced.
“Rahul Gandhi now claims my late father, Arun Jaitley, threatened him over the farm laws. Let me remind him, my father passed away in 2019. The farm laws were introduced in 2020," Rohan Jaitley posted on X.
“More importantly, it was not in my father’s nature to threaten anyone over an opposing view. He was a staunch democrat and always believed in building consensus," Rohan added.
“If at all such a situation was to occur, as it often does in politics, he would invite free and open discussions to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution to all. That was simply who he was and that remains his legacy today. I would appreciate Rahul Gandhi being mindful while speaking of those not with us. He attempted something similar with Manohar Parrikar ji, politicising his final days which was in equally poor taste," he added.
In 2019 the leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha dragged late Manohar Parrikar's name into the Rafale deal. Rahul asserted that Parrikar, who was the defence minister during the deal, knew corruption had taken place and someone would get trapped. Hence, he was distancing himself from the deal, claimed the Congress leader.
Earlier, Congress MP Manickam Tagore said on X, that Rahul was referring to Jaitley meeting him in 2015 to pass the Land Acquisition Amendment Bill in the Rajya Sabha.
While addressing the Annual Legal Conclave 2025 on Saturday, the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that the government had sent the BJP stalwart to ‘threaten’ him for opposing the farm laws.
“I remember when I was fighting the farm laws, Arun Jaitley ji was sent to me to threaten me. He told me, ‘If you carry on opposing the govt, fighting the farm laws, we will have to act against you’. I looked at him and said, ‘I don’t think you have an idea who you are talking to’," Rahul said.
The BJP hit back at Gandhi, saying the farm laws were brought in 2020 while Jaitley passed away in 2019 and asked the Congress leader to stick to facts instead of rewriting timelines to "suit narratives".
Reacting to the Congress leader's claim, Union minister Kiren Rijiju wondered, "How much one can lie?" He pointed out that Jaitley died over a year before the three farm laws were introduced in Parliament.
Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who succeeded Arun Jaitley in the Union Cabinet after his demise, said that throwing baseless allegations at people is becoming a personality trait in the Congress leader.