Hardeep Puri Gets Rajya Sabha Ticket: BJP Keeps Oil Minister Amid Epstein Controversy

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By TRH Political Desk

The BJP has renominated the 74-year-old Union Petroleum Minister from Madhya Pradesh to a seat vacated by L. Murugan, keeping Puri in contention as the party prepares for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections.

New Delhi, October 28, 2026 — The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday renominated Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri for the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh. Puri will likely win the poll for the upper house of parliament on seat vacated by former Union Minister L. Murugan.

Earlier, the BJP had not fielded Puri from Uttar Pradesh, stoking speculations that the minister embroiled into the Epstein Files controversy may be dropped from the Union Cabinet. But Puri appears to have managed to stay in the Cabinet for the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections being the sole Sikh face in the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre.

Murugan had resigned from the Council of Ministers for unexplained reasons. He had also quit from the Rajya Sabha seat. The BJP has not assigned Murugan with any organisational responsibility. He was Union Minister of state in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Puri’s Epstein connections had again flared up when the US Justice Department released his photo with the convicted pedophile offender at a time when Secretary of the State Marco Rubio was visiting India. Incidentally, Rubio’s India visit was largely focussed on oil agenda as he visited Jamnagar, which hosts the largest petrochemical complex of the Reliance Industries. Puri is the Union Minister for Oil and Gas.

At 74 years of age, Puri also seems to be lucky to have survived the BJP’s bid to promote younger leadership. The BJP has been phasing out scores of party leaders who are even in their mid-60s. Recently, Rajya Sabha MP Dinesh Sharma, who is a former deputy chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, was retired from active politics after he was appointed as a lieutenant governor.

Puri also is among a select few BJP leaders who have succeeded in bagging third terms in the Rajya Sabha. The BJP’s unwritten law calls for a party leader to contest the Lok Sabha elections after they complete two terms in the upper house of parliament. Former Union Minister Ravi Shanker Prasad was made to contest the Lok Sabha elections after his extended stay in the Rajya Sabha.

The BJP is bracing up for the next year’s Punjab Assembly elections. Former Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu had quit the council of ministers for full-time Punjab responsibilities. After Bittu, Puri had remained the sole Sikh face in the Modi-led Union Cabinet.

#MLCElectionResults : The Samajwadi Party’s five-seat tally and its victory in the #Kashi constituency signal a tougher challenge for the #BJP in #UttarPradesh, while the #Congress draws a blank in #Karnataka and #Bihar delivers a mixed verdict.