Senior Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, launched a scathing attack on Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India, Hardeep Singh Puri, alleging that his and industrialist Anil Ambani’s names appeared in the Epstein Files.
Speaking during a debate on the Union Budget on Wednesday, February 11, Rahul alleged that the government has “sold Bharat Mata” through the India-US interim trade deal and that it was a “wholesale surrender” with India’s energy security handed over to America and farmers’ interests compromised.
“There are Department of Justice files on Epstein naming Hardeep Puri and Anil Ambani. I do not believe that any Indian Prime Minister… would sign such a deal unless there was a chokehold on him… Someone would do this only when there is a certain grip on them,” Gandhi said.
“You have sold our mother, Bharat Mata… Because they are choking. We can see fear in the eyes of the Prime Minister,” he added.
The senior Congress leader also displayed a printed screenshot of the emails mentioning Puri.
Rahul’s statement met the wrath of the treasury benches and eventually led to the adjournment of the House. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the speech was “full of lies” and the ruling alliance will seek to expunge from the House records the “lies” he has spoken.
Speaking to reporters, Rijiju said, “It was unfortunate that the country does not have a person with a serious nature befitting the position of the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha. We will demand expunging of whatever lies Rahul Gandhi has spoken,” he said.
He said Gandhi made a major allegation against Puri without giving any notice, which is a serious breach of privilege. “We will file the necessary notice with the Speaker. The Leader of the Opposition did not make any useful substantive contribution to the budget discussion but only made some wild allegations,” he said.
Meanwhile, Puri responded to Rahul’s claims, stating that he met the American financier and convicted paedophile Jeffery Epstein only “on a few occasions between 2010-2014 as part of the International Peace Institute (IPI) delegation.”
Admitting there was an exchange of just one email between them, he clarified it was with LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman (copied to Epstein). “We talked about ‘Make in India.’ My interactions with him had nothing to do with charges against him (Jeffery),” Puri said.
He also said he had no interest in Epstein’s activities. “He disliked me. Epstein had called me ‘two-faced.’ For them, I was not the ‘right person.’ Rahul Gandhi should read the emails,” he suggested.
Before joining politics, Puri, a 1974-batch IFS officer, served as India’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in both Geneva (2002–2005) and as India’s Ambassador to Brazil. He also served as Deputy High Commissioner to London. He also served as President of the United Nations Security Council in August 2011 and November 2012.
