The Congress on Wednesday launched a scathing attack on the Modi government over a purported photograph of Union minister Hardeep Puri with convicted American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, with party leader Rahul Gandhi asking which "anti-national traitor" the US is "blackmailing".
The opposition party alleged that "Modi-Shah's complete silence" points to their "criminal indifference" towards the issue.
Since earlier this year, the Congress has been demanding Puri's resignation on grounds that his name figures in the "Epstein files" released in the United States. Puri has, in the past, denied the charges levelled at him by the opposition party.
Several leaders and X users shared an undated photograph, purportedly showing Puri with the late American sex offender. The photograph was reportedly released by the US Department of Justice.
In a post on X, Gandhi said, "Rubio goes to Mumbai. The US DOJ releases a picture of Epstein and Puri."
"Dear BJP and RSS workers, which anti-national traitor do you think they're blackmailing?" the leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.
Sharing the picture in which Puri is purportedly seen sitting across the table from Epstein, Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal said, "Modi did nothing despite knowing fully well about Hardeep Puri's close ties with known international pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Truly disgusted by the latest revelations proving that Puri met Epstein in the same rooms where Epstein carried out his heinous crimes."
"(Prime Minister Narendra)Modi-(Home Minister Amit) Shah's complete silence and inaction on this only points to their criminal indifference to such allegations against their own cabinet minister," Venugopal said.
"What can women expect from a government that shields and nurtures a man with close ties to the worst sexual predator known to human civilisation," he said.
"There is also an urgent need for PM Modi to speak up on this issue, because US President Donald Trump has also declared that India and US are extremely close to signing a trade deal. Do these revelations have any bearings on the final contours of the deal?" Venugopal said.
Congress media and publicity department head Pawan Khera lashed out at the government over the issue, saying Puri's "solo photograph" with Epstein has rather "inconveniently bulldozed" his own defence that he met the notorious sex trafficker only as part of a delegation.
"Puri claims 1-2 meetings and 3-4 emails over eight years. Quite a neat way to frame it. But those of us who went through the files diligently when they first surfaced have known all along that the story was far more extensive than he would have us believe. As per the Epstein Files on the US DoJ website, in the timeframe of only 3 years (2014-17), at least 62 emails back and forth have been shared between Epstein and Hardeep," Khera said.
He further said that 14 meetings and extensive interactions were held, and many of those were one-on-one meetings.
"The recent photos have only strengthened our claims while questions persist: So, will the Union Petroleum Minister stop misleading the public and reveal the true extent of his interactions/collaboration with Epstein? Which of his many meetings with Epstein does his newly surfaced solo photograph capture?" Khera said.
More importantly, what exactly was the purpose of this meeting, he asked.
Will the government of India show the moral courage of investigating this shameful involvement of its Union Minister with a convicted child sex trafficker, Khera asked.
Sharing the picture, Congress social media head Supriya Shrinate said, "Didn't Hardeep Puri say he had never met Epstein one-on-one? What kind of people does Modi like and chooses to have around him?"
"Do you need any more proof -- why RSS and the right-wing can never ever respect and treat women as equals?" she said on X.
Sharing the Puri-Epstein picture, the Congress's Seva Dal chief Srinivas BV hit out at the government.
"In any other democracy, forget Hardeep Epstein Puri, even the PM and his entire Cabinet would have resigned over such an international disgrace. But then, we have the BJP," he said.
Earlier, this year, Puri had slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for "passing innuendo" against him, asserting that he had met Epstein on a "few occasions" but his interactions with him had nothing to do with the crimes the convicted American sex offender was involved in.