Needs to grow up: Hardeep Puri tears into Rahul Gandhi over Epstein files charges

Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, whose name surfaced in the so-called Epstein files linked to disgraced US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, launched a sharp attack on Rahul Gandhi for raising the issue in Parliament, saying the Congress leader “needs to grow up.”

In an exclusive interview with India Today, Puri said he had personally informed Gandhi about the context in which his name appeared in a limited number of emails among millions of documents that have surfaced publicly. He added that had Gandhi read the note, he would not have “made a fool of himself” in Parliament.

“So, this is not about Epstein. This story is about the lack of maturity and the fact that the Leader of the Opposition -- who believes in politics by innuendo and follows a ‘spit and fly’ approach -- hasn’t grown up,” Puri said.

Escalating his attack, Puri remarked that in the civil services there is a provision for voluntary retirement for non-performing officials, adding, “He has not grown up.”

Describing Gandhi’s approach as “politics by innuendo,” Puri accused him of making allegations and then avoiding substantive debate. “If you want to raise an issue, you must do your research and allow the other side to respond. What he does is say something and then run away,” Puri said, adding that Parliament is a forum for informed participation, not insinuation.

“I have always said that the essence of freedom of speech, the essence of democracy, the essence of parliamentary participation is in taking part in a discussion, not by spit and fly,” he said.

Slamming Rahul Gandhi over his criticism of the trade deal with the US -- which he described as a “total surrender” and a “selling out of Bharat Mata” -- the minister said the Congress leader was “jealous that India is doing well, because he does not believe in the aspirations of the people".

“As my colleague and friend Kiren Rijiju said, to allege that the Prime Minister surrendered ‘Koi Maaika Laal abhi paida nahi hua (no one brave enough has been born yet)' to level such a charge against Narendra Modi,” he said, continuing his attack.

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