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Union petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri has been dropped from the BJP’s Rajya Sabha list for Uttar Pradesh after a year marked by the Epstein controversy and questions over his handling of the fuel crisis.
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Puri acknowledged meeting Epstein but denied wrongdoing; he was also the government’s principal public defender of India’s fuel-supply position during the West Asia energy disruption.
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The BJP has given no reason for Puri’s exclusion and has replaced all eight outgoing UP Rajya Sabha members with a new slate ahead of the 2027 Assembly election.
Union petroleum minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who has faced political heat over his alleged links to Jeffrey Epstein as well as the government’s handling of a major fuel and energy crisis this year, has been dropped from the BJP’s list of candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh, as per media reports, signalling a potential cabinet reshuffle.
In fact, the BJP has decided not to renominate any of its eight outgoing Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh, with Puri’s exclusion standing out because of the controversies that have surrounded the Union minister in recent months.
Puri became a political target earlier this year after his name appeared in the Epstein files. He acknowledged meeting Epstein three or four times while he was associated with the International Peace Institute in New York, but denied any wrongdoing and said the interactions were professional. He also denied having visited Epstein’s private island.
The issue was raised in Parliament by Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, prompting Puri to publicly defend his association with Epstein and dismiss the allegations against him. There is, obviously, no indication from the BJP that Puri’s exclusion is linked to the Epstein controversy.
Puri has also been the public face of the Centre’s response to the fuel crisis that unfolded amid the disruption of global energy supplies following the West Asia conflict.
In March, as reports of long queues at petrol pumps and concerns over LPG availability surfaced in several parts of the country, Puri told Parliament there was no shortage of petrol, diesel, kerosene or LPG and said supply chains were functioning normally.
The government subsequently cut excise duties on petrol and diesel as global crude prices surged, while Puri said the Centre and oil marketing companies were absorbing substantial losses to protect consumers.
By May, Puri said oil marketing companies were losing around Rs 1,000 crore a day and indicated that domestic fuel prices could rise after being kept unchanged for several years.
The fuel situation remained politically sensitive into October. Private fuel retailers including Reliance Industries’ Jio-bp and Nayara Energy restricted sales at some outlets to contain losses, prompting the government to warn that no retailer could impose unilateral caps on petrol and diesel sales.
Puri’s exclusion therefore comes at a particularly interesting juncture for a minister who has been closely identified with the government’s response to both controversies. Once again., the BJP has not publicly linked his non-renomination to either issue.
The party has instead fielded a fresh slate of eight candidates for the Uttar Pradesh Rajya Sabha seats, dropping Puri along with Arun Singh, Seema Dwivedi, B.L. Verma, Neeraj Shekhar, Brijlal and Geeta Shakya. Dinesh Sharma, another outgoing BJP member, is now lieutenant-governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The new nominees are Dharampal Singh, Radhakant Ojha, Prakash Pal, Vidyasagar Sonkar, Gopi Krishna Pandey, Priyanka Singh Rawat, Ram Pratap Singh Chauhan and Shruti Gangwar.
The Rajya Sabha elections are scheduled for 16 October, with the terms of the outgoing members ending on 25 November.