Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], August 3 (ANI): BJP leader Tamilisai Soundararajan on Sunday condemned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's statement that the Narendra Modi government at the Centre had sent late former Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to threaten him over the Opposition's pushback against the farm laws. She called Rahul's remarks 'the topmost lie.'

'I want to condemn Rahul Gandhi because he is saying that Arun Jaitley threatened him. But Arun Jaitley passed away before that. His son also said that his father was a democratic person and he would not have threatened,' Soundararajan told reporters in Chennai.

'This is the topmost lie of Rahul Gandhi. He first said 'dead economy' just like (US President Donald) Trump said. Then, he said that the Election Commission is dead. We don't know whether Congress is alive,' she added.

Rahul Gandhi had on Saturday claimed that the NDA government had sent the late Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley to 'threaten' him for trying to fight against the farm laws introduced by the Narendra Modi government earlier.

'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 while speaking at the Annual Legal Conclave 2025.

Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday also criticised Rahul Gandhi over the remarks.

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.

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.' (ANI)