New Delhi: Congress demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi must clarify who demanded Hardeep Singh Puri, a below average former diplomacy offical, be made a Union Cabinet minister before even being made an MP. On Friday, the main opposition party demanded Puri’s resignation over his emails to convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a The Telegraph report.
Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera demanded Modi’s explanation at a press conference at the Congress headquarters, amid increasing calls for Hardeep Singh Puri’s resignation both inside and outside Parliament.
He asked on whose instructions Puri, who had not had any official duties between 2014 and 2016, had gone to meet Epstein.
“And what’s even more surprising is that on November 13, 2014, Epstein sent an email to (American Internet entrepreneur) Reid Hoffman, giving information about Digital India…. Digital India started in July 2015. That means our Babu Hardeep Puri was giving information about Digital India to Epstein before the citizens of India,” The Telegraph quoted Khera.
On Wednesday, Puri was asked why he had interacted with Epstein in 2014 despite the latter’s conviction in 2008. To this, he replied, “In 2008, he pleaded guilty, yes. For a charge that he was soliciting the favours of a woman who was underage. That was it.”
Khera told reporters on Friday that Puri had spoken about underage women and questioned what an underage woman meant, adding that children had been raped. He further said that Puri was one of Narendra Modi’s Navaratnas and that he had been made a minister without being an MP and given independent charge for some reason. He then asked whether Modi had been pressuring him to go and meet Epstein.