"PM Modi has nothing do with it": Union Minister Hardeep Puri slams Rahul Gandhi over 'Epstein' remark

Puri said that the Congress party was continuously spreading paedophilia, and he has nothing to do with the allegations against the Epstein files.

Speaking to ANI, Hardeep Puri said, "He (Rahul Gandhi) made some very serious charges. He says that because of a number of factors, Epstein was mentioned as one of them, the PM is not able to safeguard the country's interests. There are hardly any references to the PM. The Prime Minister has never met Mr Epstein. The PM has never interacted with Mr Epstein. MEA has issued a clear-cut statement trashing what is in the Epstein Files.

"PM has nothing to do with it. He doesn't appear anywhere in Epstein Files, except in the LoP's fertile imagination and those nutcases who provide him with inputs and get him into trouble periodically. Then you come to an industrialist that his name is there and why has he not been arrested? That man is under investigation for acts of omission or commission committed in India. What has the Epstein Files got to do with it?" he added.

Further clarifying his interactions with Epstein, Puri informed that he met Epstein a total of four times in nine years.

"He told me your name is in interesting places. I had sent him a note clarifying that between 2009, when I went to New York, and 2017, I met Epstein a total of 4 times. Four times in 9 years, I was a member of the IPI appointed to see if the UN is fit for purpose on its 75th anniversary. I had no independent meetings with Epstein. The allegations against Epstein are about sexual favour, they are about paedophilia, about other wrongdoings...I have nothing to do with that," Puri added.

When asked if he would take action against Rahul Gandhi over the allegations, Puri responded, "Let's not judge what I am going to do."

Defending PM Modi, Puri asserted that the Prime Minister was not under pressure and he works more than 18 hours a day.

"PM is not under pressure. I worked with the PM. This is my 9th year. The PM is uniquely positioned not to have a brain which is wired to feel the pressure. He is calm at all points in time. Many of us work 18 hours a day; he works even more. He is constantly working, thinking, and sprinting in order to transform the country. I think the young leader is not able to stomach it, and that is why he comes and makes statements in Parliament and then runs away from the situation," he added.

Accusing the Lok Sabha's Leader of Opposition (LoP) of making "baseless allegations" against him, Puri described Rae Bareli MP's remarks as "elements of buffoonery" and having "entertainment value".

Puri criticised the Congress leader for walking out of the Lower House after delivering his speech.

Addressing the press conference at the BJP headquarters, Puri said, "We have a youth leader (Rahul Gandhi) who placed a few things before the Parliament today. He has a habit of making baseless allegations. 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."

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi alleged today that he has verified information, saying that "there are Department of Justice files on Epstein naming Hardeep Puri and Anil Ambani".

"I have said that I will authenticate the data I have. There are Department of Justice files on Epstein files naming Hardeep Puri and Anil Ambani," Gandhi told reporters at parliament premises.

Earlier on January 31, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, strongly dismissed the references to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 2017 visit to Israel in an email purportedly part of the recently released Epstein Files.

MEA spokesperson had dubbed the reference as the "trashy ruminations" of a convicted criminal. (ANI)