Bhopal, Oct 30 The Congress on Friday burnt effigies of Union Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, the BJP’s nominee for the November 12 Rajya Sabha by-election in Madhya Pradesh, alleging his name figured in documents and communications linked to US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Effigies were burnt this evening at several places in Bhopal, including Saket, Sant Hirdaram Nagar, Tulsi Nagar and Sarafa Chowk, Madhya Pradesh Congress media coordinator Abhinav Barolia told PTI.
The BJP has fielded Puri from the seat vacated by L Murugan, who resigned from the Union government and the Upper House earlier this month. Murugan’s RS term was due to end in April 2030.
Hours before the protests, Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari questioned the BJP’s decision to field Puri from the state and sought answers regarding references to the minister in documents, emails and accounts of meetings linked to Epstein.
The Congress will organise protests and burn effigies of Puri at district and block levels across Madhya Pradesh, Patwari added.
Patwari also claimed the BJP got a Dalit leader (referring to Murugan) to quit as Rajya Sabha member to field Puri, and questioned if the ruling party lacked suitable leaders from MP.
Patwari said publicly available documents and information referred to meetings and email exchanges between Puri and Epstein between 2014 and 2017.
“The BJP and Puri must provide factual explanations. The issue is about accountability in public life and not about declaring anyone guilty,” the Congress leader said.
Patwari challenged Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal to hold a public debate with the Congress regarding Puri’s nomination and the questions surrounding the Epstein-related documents.
He also questioned the BJP’s commitment to the moral values often advocated by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat.
He urged the media to seek direct answers from the BJP, saying people had the right to know the circumstances behind decisions concerning the state’s representation in the Rajya Sabha.
“The Congress’s fight is about transparency, accountability and the political dignity of Madhya Pradesh, and not about making baseless allegations against any individual,” Patwari claimed.
Since earlier this year, the Congress has been demanding Puri’s resignation on the 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.
The filing of nominations for the bypoll will begin on Monday. Madhya Pradesh has 11 Rajya Sabha seats.
(PTI News)
