Rahul Gandhi targets Hardeep Puri over purported Epstein photo; minister’s office calls it professional meeting

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, 21 October, renewed the Congress attack on Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri over his past contacts with the late American financier Jeffrey Epstein, a convicted sex offender. The trigger was a photograph, said by opposition leaders to come from files released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), that purportedly shows Puri seated with Epstein.

No court or investigating agency has found any wrongdoing by Puri in connection with Epstein. The minister has previously denied any link to Epstein’s crimes, and his office has defended the newly circulated image as a record of a professional meeting.

What Rahul Gandhi said

In a post on X, Gandhi placed the photograph alongside the visit of US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Mumbai this week. He asked BJP and RSS workers to say “which anti-national traitor” they believed was being “blackmailed”. As Outlook noted, he did not name anyone or offer evidence for the suggestion of blackmail.

Other opposition leaders joined in. According to ANI, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of staying silent despite knowing about the minister’s Epstein ties, and asked whether the matter could affect the terms of the India-US trade deal now under negotiation. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut questioned on whose behalf Puri had held the alleged meeting.

Congress leader Pawan Khera, as reported by The Tribune, said the image shows Puri “alone” with Epstein. Citing DOJ documents, Khera claimed there were dozens of emails and more than a dozen interactions between the two between 2014 and 2017, and demanded a full disclosure and an inquiry. These figures are the Congress’s claims and have not been independently verified. TMC MP Mahua Moitra and Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate also posted pointed remarks on social media.

Where the photograph comes from

The Wire reported that the picture is part of Dataset 9 of the DOJ’s Epstein files, which was released in January 2026, and that it found around 10 near-identical frames of the same sitting. The images show Puri in a suit across a table from Epstein, with no one else visible. The Wire’s account suggests the photo is not part of a fresh release timed to Rubio’s trip, as the opposition’s framing implied. Nothing in the image itself indicates any illegal conduct.

Rubio was in India for stops in Mumbai and Jamnagar. He told The Indian Express, as cited by Outlook, that a trade agreement was nearly complete. No source has linked his visit to the photograph beyond the opposition’s remarks.

Puri’s position

At a press conference on 11 February, Puri said he had met Epstein “three or maximum four” times between 2009 and 2017. He said these meetings took place while he worked with the International Peace Institute (IPI) and its Independent Commission on Multilateralism, and had nothing to do with Epstein’s criminal acts. He called the opposition’s allegations “baseless”.

Responding to The Wire’s questions on the new image, Puri’s office said the minister could not recall which meeting the photo showed or whether others were present. It said he had never claimed he did not meet Epstein one-on-one, and that his remark about a delegation referred to the first meeting. The office described the photos as showing working meetings in a professional setting, and said Puri never visited Epstein’s island.

The BJP has consistently dismissed the opposition’s Epstein-related charges as politically motivated, ETV Bharat reported. At the time of writing, no fresh BJP statement specifically answering Gandhi’s latest post was available.

Sources

• ANI: Rahul Gandhi raises questions over alleged Epstein-Hardeep Puri meeting
• Outlook: Rahul Gandhi links Rubio’s visit to Puri-Epstein photo
• The Wire: At press conference, Puri said he only met Epstein as a delegation, newly surfaced photo shows otherwise
• The Tribune: ‘Which traitor is US blackmailing’: Rahul hits out at BJP, RSS over Puri-Epstein pic
• ETV Bharat: Rahul Gandhi attacks BJP over Epstein-Puri photo, rakes up national security issue