‘National shame’: Congress flags Epstein reference to PM Modi, seeks answers

Congress leader Pawan Khera on Friday alleged that convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had mentioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a document, and demanded clarification from the Prime Minister over remindered remarks attributed to Epstein.

In a post on social media platform X, Khera described it as a “matter of national shame” and claimed that Epstein had written that Prime Minister Modi had taken his “advice” and “danced and sang in Israel for the benefit of the US president”, adding the phrase “IT WORKED!”, as quoted by the Congress leader.

Khera alleged that any proximity between India’s Prime Minister and Epstein, who he described as a convicted human trafficker and serial sex offender, raised “serious questions of judgment, transparency, and diplomatic propriety”.

The Congress leader further claimed that the reference suggested a “direct unexplained association” between Epstein and the Prime Minister, and linked it to documents being released as part of the so-called Epstein files. He said the matter affected “national dignity and international reputation”.

Seeking an explanation from the Prime Minister, Khera posed three questions: what advice was allegedly sought from Epstein; what was meant by acting “for the benefit of the US president” during a visit to Israel; and what was implied by the phrase “IT WORKED!”, as cited in the post.

Khera also shared a link to what he said was a document hosted on the US Department of Justice website, though he did not provide independent verification of the claims in his post.

There was no immediate response from the Prime Minister’s Office or the Bharatiya Janata Party to the allegations.

Epstein, a former financier with connections to prominent figures, died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. His name has surfaced in multiple documents and court filings released in recent years, though the presence of a name in such records does by itself establish wrongdoing.