Hardeep Singh Puri criticised Rahul Gandhi for making baseless allegations about Epstein and leaving without hearing the replies.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday hit back at Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi after the Congress leader referred to his alleged links with Jeffrey Epstein in the Lok Sabha, accusing him of making “baseless allegations” and walking out of the House without listening to replies.
Referring to Gandhi’s speech in Parliament, Puri said, “We have a youth leader who placed a few things before the Parliament today. He has a habit of making baseless allegations.”
Without naming Gandhi directly at first, Puri contrasted what he described as two types of political leaders. “There are two kinds of leaders: those who assume responsibility in the political system and dedicate their lives to social service, transforming the country, and those who devote their lives and ensure that, during their lifetime, the country moves from the 10th-largest economy to the 3rd-largest,” he said.
He then took a swipe at Gandhi’s conduct in the House. “And then there are other leaders who occasionally come to the country, and when they come to the Parliament, they walk out of the House when someone gives them a substantive reply and doesn’t listen to them. He left after his own speech today…” the Union Minister said.
#WATCH | On Lok Sabha LoP Rahul Gandhi’s speech in the House, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri says, “…Epstein Files, the Yuva Neta should know, are about wrongdoing, criminal offences. The Epstein Files are about charges that he had an island where he used to take people to… pic.twitter.com/v8jnqpR6kA
— ANI (@ANI) February 11, 2026
Addressing remarks by Congress leader Supriya Shrinate, Puri said, “Congress leader Supriya Shrinate raised in an email – ‘who introduced Hardeep Puri, I presume to Epstein…’ These facts are known in the public domain. Three million emails have been released. I was in New York for 8 years, from May 2009, when I joined as India’s Ambassador to the UN. In 2017, I became Minister. There are references to possibly three or four meetings in 8 years…”
He further said he had clarified the matter directly to Rahul Gandhi. “I decided to tell Yuva Neta, Rahul Gandhi, and in the note to him, I told him that after I retired as India’s Ambassador to the UN, a few months later, I was invited to join the International Peace Institute. I was not part of the IPI per se…As part of the delegation of the IPI or the ICM, I met Mr Epstein on a few occasions. The ICM was dealing with international issues, and Mr Epstein was not part of it.”
