Opposition MPs on Friday protested outside Makar Dwar in the Parliament House complex demanding the resignation of Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri. Hardeep Singh Puri is under criticism after Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi raised questions on his links with the notorious Jeffrey Epstein.
MPs from opposition parties held posters reading “Who is in control, who is strangulating” during the protest.
The incident comes after Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday claimed that he had verified information linking Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri to the Epstein files recently released by the US Justice Department.
Speaking to reporters, the Rae Bareli MP raised questions as to why Ambani, whose name has reportedly appeared in files related to Epstein, was not sent to jail. He said, “I have said that I will confirm the data I have. The Justice Department has files related to Epstein in which Hardeep Puri and Anil Ambani are named.”
He further claimed that there was pressure on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the India-US nuclear deal and criticized the government’s handling of sensitive issues.
Reacting to Gandhi’s comments, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri hit back at the Rae Bareli MP and termed the allegations as baseless and full of “hilarity” and “entertainment value”.
Later the same day, soon after Gandhi’s comments, Puri addressed a press conference at the BJP headquarters, in which Puri criticized Gandhi for walking out of the Lok Sabha after giving his speech.
Puri said, “We have a young leader (Rahul Gandhi) who made some points before Parliament today. He has a habit of making baseless allegations. There are two types of leaders: one who accepts responsibility in the political system and dedicates his life to social service, transformation of the country, and the other who devotes his life to ensuring that the country becomes the third largest economy from the tenth largest economy in his lifetime,” Puri said.
Making fun of Gandhi, the Union Minister further said, “There is a lot of entertainment in whatever Rahul Gandhi does! On one hand, there are leaders who dedicate their lives and work day and night to change the country, and on the other hand, there are elements of clowning in them too.”
Puri clarified that any contact she had with Epstein over eight years was limited to official meetings only and had no connection to the sexual abuse allegations.
He clarified, “These facts are publicly known. Three million emails have been released. I lived in New York for eight years from May 2009, when I was appointed India’s Ambassador to the United Nations. In 2017 I became a minister. There are mentions of perhaps three or four meetings in eight years. Whatever contact I had with him has no connection with the serious allegations of sexual abuse made by the victims.”
