Rahul alleges Hardeep Singh Puri met Jeffrey Epstein; minister responds to the claim in parliament.
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.
According to The Wire, emails were exchanged between Hardeep Singh Puri and Jeffery Epstein, which began in June 2014. In one of the emails Epstein wrote to Puri, which the latter has acknowledged in front of the press, stating that LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman was prepared to visit India.
Puri replied on June 23, 2014, saying he would be “happy to assist/facilitate” the visit.
Then on September 24, 2014, Epstein introduced Puri to Hoffman over email, writing – “reid – hardeep. hardeep reid, . reid hardeep is your man in India.”
The Wire states that Hoffman and Puri got in touch and discussed a meeting in Silicon Valley in early October 2014.
Then, on November 13, 2014, Puri wrote to both Epstein and Hoffman discussing investment opportunities in India’s internet sector. He highlighted India’s growing 200 million internet users and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s “Digital India.”
The released documents also point out that Puri had met Epstein at his Manhattan townhouse on three different occasions – February 4, 2015, January 6, 2016, and May 19, 2017.
In October 2014, Epstein emailed Puri asking for his help in securing a visa for his assistant to attend a wedding in India. “Hardeep, I need a favour, my asst needs a quick visa so she can attend a wedding in India, is there someone at the consulate she can talk to?” the late American financier had written.
To which Puri connected him to Pramod Bajaj, then a former Indian consul in New York and later ambassador to South Sudan. “Bajaj now works with me, would organise this,” stated his email.
And then there is another email where Prui writes to Pramod saying, “Parmod, grateful if you could have this done on a priority basis. Will request applicant to get in touch with you directly,” while also copying a person identified as “Sanjeev in New York.”
Two months later, in December, Puri sends another email to Epstein asking when he would return from his “exotic island.” He also mentions a chat with Jeffery and wishes to give him “some books to excite an interest in India.”
This post was last modified on February 11, 2026 11:02 pm