Rahul Gandhi questions BJP over Puri Epstein photograph
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday linked US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s Mumbai visit to a photograph showing Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri with Jeffrey Epstein, raising an unsubstantiated suggestion of political blackmail.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha directed his remarks at workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, questioning whether someone was being pressured as the photograph circulated during Rubio’s visit.
“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 on X.
Gandhi offered no evidence that the United States was blackmailing anyone, or that Rubio’s visit had any connection with the photograph. The image was contained in material made public by the US Department of Justice in January, rather than newly released during the secretary of state’s trip.
The photograph shows Puri seated across a table from Epstein, the disgraced American financier who died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. No other individual is visible within the frame, although the image alone cannot establish whether others attended the meeting.
Puri, the minister for petroleum and natural gas, has previously acknowledged meeting Epstein but maintained that their contact was professional. He said in February that he encountered Epstein on three or, at most, four occasions through work associated with the International Peace Institute and its Independent Commission on Multilateralism.
“My boss in the IPI, Terje Rod-Larsen, was the person who knew this particular infamous person Mr Epstein,” Puri said while explaining that he had attended meetings as part of an institutional delegation.
Puri’s office has maintained that the photograph does not contradict his explanation. It said he could not recall which meeting was pictured or whether other participants had been present before or after the moment captured.
Congress leaders nevertheless challenged his account. Party spokesperson Pawan Khera said documents available through the US Justice Department indicated substantially more communication than the minister had described, alleging at least 62 emails between Puri and Epstein from 2014 to 2017.
Khera also claimed that records suggested 14 meetings and other interactions, including individual encounters. Those figures were allegations advanced by Congress, rather than findings establishing misconduct. He called for an investigation and asked Puri to explain the nature and extent of the exchanges.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal separately accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of failing to address questions surrounding Puri’s association with Epstein. His criticism focused on ministerial accountability, but the photograph itself does not demonstrate involvement in Epstein’s crimes. Venugopal also questioned the government’s response to demands for an explanation from a Cabinet minister.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra also questioned the minister’s account of delegation meetings after the photograph appeared online. Her intervention added to opposition demands for clarification about who attended the encounters and the circumstances in which they took place.
Rubio was in Mumbai for meetings and public engagements as Washington and New Delhi continued discussions on trade and their strategic relationship. During the visit, he said the two countries were close to finalising a trade agreement, describing the remaining negotiations as a matter of weeks rather than months.
He also urged greater purchases of American energy, technology and defence equipment. Neither those remarks nor the visit provided evidence supporting Gandhi’s suggestion of blackmail, and the Congress leader did not identify an alleged target in his post.
The timing of the photograph’s renewed circulation became a central feature of the opposition attack. However, the distinction between the Justice Department’s earlier publication of the material and its appearance on social media this week is significant to assessing Gandhi’s assertion about its release.
Epstein’s connections with influential figures have drawn scrutiny because of his sexual abuse of girls and the criminal proceedings surrounding his activities. Association or a photograph with Epstein does not, by itself, establish knowledge of or participation in those offences.
Puri has said his interactions took place after his tenure as India’s permanent representative to the United Nations and before he entered the Union Cabinet in 2017. He has denied that the meetings had any connection with Epstein’s criminal conduct. His account places the encounters within the activities of the institute, where he worked following his diplomatic career.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha directed his remarks at workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, questioning whether someone was being pressured as the photograph circulated during Rubio’s visit.
“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 on X.
Gandhi offered no evidence that the United States was blackmailing anyone, or that Rubio’s visit had any connection with the photograph. The image was contained in material made public by the US Department of Justice in January, rather than newly released during the secretary of state’s trip.
The photograph shows Puri seated across a table from Epstein, the disgraced American financier who died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. No other individual is visible within the frame, although the image alone cannot establish whether others attended the meeting.
Puri, the minister for petroleum and natural gas, has previously acknowledged meeting Epstein but maintained that their contact was professional. He said in February that he encountered Epstein on three or, at most, four occasions through work associated with the International Peace Institute and its Independent Commission on Multilateralism.
“My boss in the IPI, Terje Rod-Larsen, was the person who knew this particular infamous person Mr Epstein,” Puri said while explaining that he had attended meetings as part of an institutional delegation.
Puri’s office has maintained that the photograph does not contradict his explanation. It said he could not recall which meeting was pictured or whether other participants had been present before or after the moment captured.
Congress leaders nevertheless challenged his account. Party spokesperson Pawan Khera said documents available through the US Justice Department indicated substantially more communication than the minister had described, alleging at least 62 emails between Puri and Epstein from 2014 to 2017.
Khera also claimed that records suggested 14 meetings and other interactions, including individual encounters. Those figures were allegations advanced by Congress, rather than findings establishing misconduct. He called for an investigation and asked Puri to explain the nature and extent of the exchanges.
Congress general secretary K C Venugopal separately accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of failing to address questions surrounding Puri’s association with Epstein. His criticism focused on ministerial accountability, but the photograph itself does not demonstrate involvement in Epstein’s crimes. Venugopal also questioned the government’s response to demands for an explanation from a Cabinet minister.
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra also questioned the minister’s account of delegation meetings after the photograph appeared online. Her intervention added to opposition demands for clarification about who attended the encounters and the circumstances in which they took place.
Rubio was in Mumbai for meetings and public engagements as Washington and New Delhi continued discussions on trade and their strategic relationship. During the visit, he said the two countries were close to finalising a trade agreement, describing the remaining negotiations as a matter of weeks rather than months.
He also urged greater purchases of American energy, technology and defence equipment. Neither those remarks nor the visit provided evidence supporting Gandhi’s suggestion of blackmail, and the Congress leader did not identify an alleged target in his post.
The timing of the photograph’s renewed circulation became a central feature of the opposition attack. However, the distinction between the Justice Department’s earlier publication of the material and its appearance on social media this week is significant to assessing Gandhi’s assertion about its release.
Epstein’s connections with influential figures have drawn scrutiny because of his sexual abuse of girls and the criminal proceedings surrounding his activities. Association or a photograph with Epstein does not, by itself, establish knowledge of or participation in those offences.
Puri has said his interactions took place after his tenure as India’s permanent representative to the United Nations and before he entered the Union Cabinet in 2017. He has denied that the meetings had any connection with Epstein’s criminal conduct. His account places the encounters within the activities of the institute, where he worked following his diplomatic career.