BJP Names Hardeep Puri Candidate for Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri will be the Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate for the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh. The seat became vacant after the resignation of Dr. L. Murugan, who was then Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting.

Puri, who is the Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas, reached Bhopal, the state capital, tonight. He is scheduled to file his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha election tomorrow.

The BJP has declared Puri as its candidate for the election despite demands from opposition parties for his resignation. The opposition parties had made the demand because Puri’s name has appeared repeatedly in the ‘Epstein files’ and because he had met Epstein several times in the past.

The controversy relates to Jeffrey Epstein, whose name has been linked to allegations involving sexual abuse and sex trafficking. Recently, the United States Department of Justice released a photograph from the files. Puri can be seen sitting in front of Epstein in the picture.

After the scandal came to light, Puri spoke to media persons and acknowledged that he had met Epstein. However, he clarified that he had met Epstein a few times as part of a delegation representing an ‘International Think Tank’.

Puri also made it clear that those meetings had nothing to do with Epstein’s controversial background. His explanation came after the photograph was released and after opposition parties renewed their demand for his resignation.

According to Wikipedia, “Jeffrey Edward Epstein (20 January, 1953: 10 August, 2019) was an American financier, a well-known figure in high society and a convicted sex offender who sexually abused children. He used his vast wealth and a large network of influential people to carry out a very large, multi-state sex trafficking racket involving minors and managed to evade the reach of the law for decades.”

Puri’s nomination will now be followed by the filing of his nomination papers in Bhopal for the Rajya Sabha election. The contest is being held for the seat that fell vacant following Dr. L. Murugan’s resignation.