Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday targeted the BJP and the RSS over a purported photograph of Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, raising a provocative question about possible blackmail while referring to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s visit to India.
“Rubio goes to Mumbai. The US DOJ releases a picture of Epstein and Puri. Dear BJP and RSS workers, which anti-national traitor do you think they’re blackmailing?” Gandhi wrote in a post on X.
Rahul Gandhi juxtaposed Rubio’s visit with the reported release of the photograph, drawing attention to the timing of the two developments. His post did not explicitly mention the India-US trade deal, nor did it provide evidence linking the photograph to ongoing bilateral negotiations.
The controversy erupted after a purported photograph of Puri with Epstein circulated on social media, prompting opposition leaders to question their alleged interactions. The photograph’s circulation and the subsequent political statements, however, do not independently establish wrongdoing by Puri or any connection between the matter and trade negotiations.
Congress leader Srinivas B.V. had earlier drawn a more explicit connection between the photograph, Rubio’s Mumbai visit and discussions surrounding the India-US trade deal. He suggested a possible link between the developments, but no evidence cited in the political exchanges substantiated that claim.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Wednesday questioned Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri over his reported interactions with Jeffrey Epstein, asking whether the minister had carried a message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their alleged meeting.
Reacting to a purported photograph of Puri and Epstein circulating on social media, Raut claimed the controversy was being discussed nationwide and suggested that further revelations could follow.
In a post on X, Raut wrote: “Modiji, one minister Hardeep Puri is meeting Jeffrey Epstein alone? Whose message is he carrying in the meeting? This is the beginning, Watch ahead to see what’s about to happen? @RSSorg regime change will happen! Jai Hind!”
Speaking to reporters, Raut challenged Puri’s previous statements about his interactions with Epstein, referring to photographs that he claimed showed the two together. He questioned the circumstances of their alleged meetings and whether Puri had represented the Prime Minister, but offered no evidence in the remarks cited to substantiate that insinuation.
Congress, CJP question Puri
Congress leader Srinivas B.V. also questioned the timing of the photograph’s circulation, linking it to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s recent visit to Mumbai and the ongoing India-US trade discussions.
In a post on X, Srinivas wrote: “Yesterday, the US Secretary of State landed in ‘Mumbai’, and right at that very moment, pictures of Hardeep ‘Epstein’ Puri emerged from the US Justice Department’s files, Could there be some VIDEO coming out too to settle the technicalities of the US Trade Deal…?”
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) activist Abhijeet Dipke separately challenged Puri’s earlier account of his interactions with Epstein. Sharing a purported photograph of the two, Dipke asked on X: “Didn’t Puri claim that he never had a personal meeting with Epstein?”
The latest criticism follows Puri’s response in February to allegations raised by Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi concerning the Epstein files. Puri had rejected claims linking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the files, describing them as baseless.
Puri had also said that he met Epstein four times over nine years, between 2009 and 2017, after moving to New York. He explained that the interactions took place in the context of his work with the International Peace Institute (IPI), including an initiative examining the United Nations’ effectiveness ahead of its 75th anniversary.
“I had no independent meetings with Epstein,” Puri had said, adding that the allegations against Epstein involved sexual exploitation, paedophilia and other wrongdoing with which he said he had no connection.
The opposition’s latest questions have renewed scrutiny of Puri’s account of those interactions. However, the circulation of a photograph or the fact of contact with Epstein does not, by itself, establish criminal wrongdoing or substantiate allegations of political involvement.
BJP’s counterattack on Rahul Gandhi citing Soros
The BJP, meanwhile, mounted a counterattack against Gandhi over his reported visit to Vietnam.
BJP leader Sambit Patra accused the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha of attempting regime change in India, alleging that Gandhi was travelling abroad to receive coaching from financier George Soros on how to destabilise the country.
Speaking in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday, Patra made the allegations following reports that Gandhi had left India for a four-day private trip to Vietnam. The remarks came amid continuing political tensions over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
The exchange has opened another front in the Congress-BJP confrontation, with Gandhi questioning the circumstances surrounding the purported Epstein-Puri photograph while the BJP seeks to shift the focus to his overseas visit and alleged links to efforts to destabilise the government.
Neither the blackmail insinuation nor Patra’s allegations of regime-change efforts were substantiated by evidence in the statements cited.