Amid increasing pressure from the Opposition on the Narendra Modi government to act against Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri over his alleged association with convicted American sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, power corridors in New Delhi are buzzing with “significant changes” in the next reshuffle of the Union Council of Ministers.
Sources indicate that major changes are likely in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s council, as well as in the team of newly-appointed BJP president Nitin Nabin, “anytime after Holi, around March–April.” They also point out that Puri’s second Rajya Sabha term is scheduled to end on November 25, 2026.
Apart from Opposition attacks, there appears to be mounting moral pressure on the BJP-led NDA, the first indication of which was the cancellation of American philanthropist Bill Gates’s keynote address at an AI summit. Around the same time, King Charles’ brother, former prince Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, was arrested by the UK police on suspicion of “misconduct” in public office amid the ongoing Epstein files row. Facing scrutiny over his links to Epstein, he had stepped back from royal duties. He now faces allegations of passing confidential government documents to the late sex offender.
AAP MP Sanjay Singh, too, has accused Puri of “passing on government information about the Digital India programme to Epstein months before its official launch.” Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has demanded his resignation and an apology to the nation, accusing him of “lying repeatedly and brazenly about his relationship with Epstein.” She also claimed that emails suggest a level of familiarity he has not acknowledged.
In correspondence cited by Opposition leaders, Puri allegedly referred to Epstein as “Jeff” and “my friend,” and used informal phrases such as “Are you back from your exotic island?” Several of the meetings took place at Epstein’s New York residence and were one-on-one, they also claim.
According to Congress leader Pawan Khera, Puri initially claimed he met Epstein three to four times over eight years, always as part of a delegation. Khera, however, alleged that between 2014 and 2017, Puri met Epstein 14 times, including nine meetings during a five-month period between June and October 2014.
In recent political history, M.J. Akbar was among the few ministers who were asked to resign in 2018 following multiple allegations of sexual harassment during the #MeToo movement, which he denied, calling them “baseless.” Other ministerial exits have mostly preceded major reshuffles, such as around July 2021, when 12 Union ministers resigned. While some departures were attributed to health reasons, others were linked to performance issues or crisis management, including criticism over the government’s handling of the second wave of COVID-19 and disputes with social media giants over IT rules.