New Delhi, February 11: Accusing the Lok Sabha's Leader of Opposition (LoP) of making "baseless allegations" on him, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday hit back at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over his 'Epstein files' remark, describing Rae Bareli MP 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."
"And then there are other leaders who occasionally come to the country, and when they come to the Parliament, they walk out of the House when someone gives them a substantive reply and doesn't listen to them. He left after his own speech today," he added.
Mocking Congress leader further, Puri continued, "What Rahul Gandhi does has a lot of entertainment value! On one hand, you have leaders who dedicate their lives to transforming the country and work around the clock, and then you have elements of buffoonery."
Responding to Gandhi's remarks linking him to the 'Epstein files', the Union Minister clarified, "These facts are known in the public domain. Three million emails have been released. I was in New York for eight years, from May 2009, when I was appointed India's Ambassador to the UN. In 2017, I became Minister. There are references to possibly three or four meetings in eight years. I decided to tell young leader Rahul Gandhi, in a note to him, that after I retired as India's Ambassador to the UN, a few months later, I was invited to join the International Peace Institute. I was not part of the IPI per se."
"This is the same young leader who tore up a copy of the ordinance during Manmohan Singh's press conference. The Brazilian model, about which he had raised a lot of issues, was indeed Brazilian, but the information turned out to be incorrect. He later apologised for this," Puri slammed Lok Sabha LoP.
Replaying on the claims linking him to Epstein, Puri said he "met Epstein on three or four occasions" over eight years for specific reasons.
"There are only two references to this period and one email exchange. Any contact I had with him has no connection to the serious allegations of sexual abuse filed by victims. It's a lengthy email, and a copy is available. The world has seen it."
The Union Minister also took a dig at Gandhi's conduct in the Lok Sabha, noting, "Today, Rahul ji was supposed to speak on the budget. While speaking, he started reading the Economic Survey. It's as if there's a pause. Hey, my brother, please read a little. It's very important for India that we have international agreements and trade agreements. There's an industrialist whose name is also mentioned, but why hasn't he been arrested? Why are you linking him? The camel is somewhere, and the dog is barking in another city. What are you linking to what? I've already said, there are elements of vulgarity in this. It's only for entertainment value."
He further criticised Gandhi's speech in Parliament and suggested that he consult a dictionary before speaking about anyone.
"Someone outside said 'dead economy,' and Netaji repeated the same. What they do has a very high entertainment value. I would call it elements of buffoonery. Today, he even mentioned me. They have a spokesperson, Supriya Shrinate, who said these were all 'baseless allegations,' especially regarding that India trade deal. She questioned who introduced Hardeep Puri. These facts are in the public domain. 3 million emails have been released," Puri added.
Hardeep Puri's remarks come after Congress MP and Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi today alleged that he possesses 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.
Meanwhile, 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)
