Rohan Jaitley fact-checks Rahul Gandhi over claim that late Arun Jaitley 'threatened' him over farm laws
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was fact-checked on Saturday by Rohan Jaitley, son of former Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, after alleging that the late BJP stalwart was 'sent to threaten' him during the 2020 farm law protests.
The claim — made by Gandhi during the Annual Legal Conclave 2025 in Delhi — drew swift rebuttal from Rohan, who pointed out that Arun Jaitley passed away in 2019, while the farm laws were introduced in 2020.
Speaking at the Congress-organised conclave on 'Constitutional Challenges - Perspectives & Pathways', Rahul Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the Narendra Modi government, the Election Commission, and alleged large-scale voter fraud in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.During his speech, Gandhi claimed that the BJP-led NDA had tried to silence him when he opposed the now-repealed farm laws. He directly named Arun Jaitley, stating:'I remember when I was fighting the farm laws, Arun Jaitley was sent to me to threaten me. He told me, 'If you carry on opposing the government, 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.''
The Congress leader also used the platform to accuse the Election Commission of being complicit in electoral manipulation and questioned the legitimacy of the Modi government's majority.In a sharply worded response issued after Gandhi's remarks, Rohan Jaitley reminded the Congress MP of the timeline, stating that his father had died a year before the contentious farm laws were enacted.'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 said. — rohanjaitley (@rohanjaitley) Calling the claim not only factually inaccurate but also disrespectful, Rohan added:'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. 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.'Taking strong exception to the invocation of his late father's name, Rohan urged Rahul Gandhi to show greater sensitivity:'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. Let the departed Rest in Peace.'During his address, Gandhi also attacked the Election Commission, claiming that the 2024 general elections had been rigged. He said:'The truth is that the election system in India is already dead. The Prime Minister of India holds office with a very slim majority. If 15 seats were rigged — we suspect that the number is over 70 to 80 — he would not have been the Prime Minister of India. We are going to prove to you in the coming few days how a Lok Sabha election can be rigged and was rigged.'He also referred to the Rafale fighter jet deal, alleging high-level interference:'We had a document on the Rafale deal. The document said clearly, black and white, that the Prime Minister's Office and the NSA have interfered in the Rafale deal and damaged it. This document itself would have brought down any government in any country of the world. Nothing happened. You know where the document went. You know where the document died.'Gandhi praised the legal fraternity, claiming that it was lawyers who both built the Congress and conceptualised India's constitutional framework. However, he warned that this legal and democratic architecture was being 'systematically unravelled.''I am telling you this, that it is the architecture that you build, which is being destroyed today. It is being systematically unravelled on every front. Some of it is visible while the other is hidden.'
The conclave was attended by several senior Congress leaders, including party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, KC Venugopal, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Jairam Ramesh, and chief ministers Siddaramaiah, Revanth Reddy and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, among others.
(With inputs from ANI)
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