"Opportunistic, hateful and baseless rhetoric": Dharmendra Pradhan slams Rahul Gandhi's remarks on Arun Jaitley

New Delhi [India], August 3 (ANI): Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday criticised Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his recent remarks involving former Union Minister Arun Jaitley, terming them "hateful" and "baseless," and demanded an immediate apology.
In a post on social media platform X, the Union Minister said, "Rahul Gandhi has completely shredded all standards of decorum in public life. Former Union Minister and senior leader, the late Arun Jaitley ji, is no longer among us. However, Rahul Gandhi's immature and childish, hateful mentality has insensitively spread lies in the name of the late Arun Jaitley ji to further his own agenda, disregarding the facts related to the agricultural laws."
He further accused the Congress MP of using "opportunistic, hateful and baseless rhetoric" and said this reflects the party's disconnect from sentiments like empathy.
"The agricultural law was introduced in Parliament in 2020, and Jaitley ji's unfortunate demise occurred in August 2019. Rahul Gandhi's opportunistic, hateful, and baseless rhetoric has once again proven that Congress members have no connection with sentiments like empathy; their so-called 'shop of love' is filled only with 'hateful words," Pradhan wrote in the post.

राहुल गांधी ने सार्वजनिक जीवन में न्यूनतम स्तर की सभी मर्यादाओं को तार-तार कर दिया है। पूर्व केंद्रीय मंत्री और वरिष्ठ नेता स्व. अरुण जेटली जी अब हमारे बीच नहीं हैं। मगर, राहुल गांधी की अपरिपक्वता और बचपने से भरी घृणित मानसिकता ने कृषि कानूनों से जुड़े तथ्यों को छोड़कर अपने…

— Dharmendra Pradhan (@dpradhanbjp) August 2, 2025

Demanding an apology, the Union Minister added, "Rahul Gandhi's language is miles away from that of a dignified person; he has forgotten how to speak and conduct himself on a public platform! For this shameful and condemnable language, Rahul Gandhi should immediately apologise to Jaitley ji, his family, and his supporters."
Earlier in the day, while addressing the Annual Legal Conclave 2025, Rahul Gandhi claimed during his speech that the NDA government had sent the late Minister Arun Jaitley to "threaten" him for opposing the farm laws introduced by the Modi government.
"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," Rahul Gandhi said. (ANI)