Shirtless protest at AI summit: Cong faces backlash; Rahul shown black flags

The BJP protesters, carrying placards and raising slogans, slammed the Congress and its leader, Rahul Gandhi, calling them "traitors" for allegedly tarnishing the nation's image.

Bharatiya Janata Party workers agitated in several states on Saturday against the "shirtless" protest of Youth Congress activists at the India AI Impact Summit here, accusing the opposition party of bringing India into disrepute on a global platform.

While Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was shown black flags by BJP workers while he was on his way to attend a court hearing in Maharashtra's Thane, Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activists held protests in Jammu, Jaipur, Patna, Bengaluru, Panchkula and Indore, among other places.

Leaders from other political parties, including Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, also slammed the Congress over the protest at the summit venue.

A group of India Youth Congress workers staged a brief protest on Friday at an exhibition hall of Bharat Mandapam, the venue of the AI summit, raising slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before being whisked away by security personnel.

The Youth Congress workers staged a dramatic "shirtless" protest, walking around holding t-shirts with slogans against the government and the India-US trade deal printed on those.

A Delhi court on Saturday sent four IYC workers, who were arrested for protesting at the summit venue, to police custody for five days. 

BJP Calls 'Shirtless' Protest 'Treason'

The BJP launched a fresh attack on the Congress and Gandhi over the protest at Bharat Mandapam. The ruling party alleged that the protest amounted to "treason" as the "sepoys of Lashkar-e-Rahul" tried to tarnish India's image.

"What the Congress has done is not just politics. It cannot be dismissed as mere negative politics, it amounts to treason.

"Until now, Rahul Gandhi used to go abroad and make derogatory, offensive and condemnable statements about India. Now, the flag-bearers and sepoys of Lashkar-e-Rahul are attempting to tarnish India's image in front of foreign guests," BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi told reporters.

He alleged that the protest at the AI summit venue was a "shameful display" of the Congress's "pettiness and nakedness".

"The entire country is anguished and agitated. The people of the country will never forgive the Congress for such a condemnable conduct," he said.

Union minister Kiren Rijiju accused the Congress of committing a "big sin" against the country by deploying its youth wing workers to hold the protest at the summit venue.

Terming the protest "shameful", he alleged that it was a well-thought-out conspiracy to malign India's image.

"The Congress using youngsters to defame the country, there could be nothing more shameful than this," Rijiju told a press conference here.

"When India progresses, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress become sad. Congress leaders and workers keep hatching conspiracies round the clock to defame India," he said.

Senior BJP leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi hit out at the Congress over the protest, saying the party has a chronology of "criminal acts" and is unable to accept that a person from a poor family is leading the country as the prime minister.

Talking to reporters, Naqvi urged the Congress to move beyond its obsession with transforming "democracy into a Disneyland of dynasty".

He emphasised that the "chronology of the Congress's criminal conspiracies" is not coincidental, but a matter of choice.

Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel slammed the Congress and said only to oppose the BJP, the grand old party has adopted a path of opposing India itself. 

Mayawati Calls Protest 'Highly Objectionable'

Leaders from other political parties condemned the Youth Congress protest at the Ai summit venue as well.

Mayawati said the act was "highly objectionable and condemnable".

In a post on X, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said the summit that had drawn international attention witnessed certain individuals expressing their anger in a "semi-nude manner".

She termed their behaviour "extremely inappropriate and condemnable".

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu too condemned the Congress.

"Such a good programme was disrupted by half-naked Congress workers. I do not know what to say. It was painful. It was anguishing. Instead of welcoming the event where 60 to 70 countries participated, the Congress behaved irresponsibly. I severely condemn the act. It is not good. It is disgraceful to the country," the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief said, addressing a gathering.

Referring to the Youth Congress protest at the AI summit, YSRCP supremo YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said no one should ever demean India.

"Yesterday at the AI Summit, the Youth Congress made us all feel ashamed. Where is our politics heading! No one should ever demean our country," the former Andhra Pradesh chief minister said in a post on X.

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president K T Rama Rao said using such global platforms for agitations would project the country in a poor light internationally.

It is ironical that the Youth Congress workers staged the protest "precisely" when Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was addressing the AI summit, he said.

Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang said such disruptions risk undermining India's credibility at a moment of significant international attention.

"I strongly condemn the actions of the Congress party at a time when India is hosting the prestigious Global AI Summit in New Delhi, showcasing its rapid strides in innovation and technological advancement before the international community," Tamang said in a social-media post. 

BJP Workers Show Black Flags at Rahul

Activists of the BJP and the Shiv Sena staged demonstrations against Gandhi in Mumbai and Thane on Saturday.

Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske demanded the registration of a sedition case against the former Congress chief for his frequent "anti-national" statements and for obstructing the functioning of Parliament.

BJP workers waved black flags at Gandhi's car at the Mulund toll plaza when he was headed to Bhiwandi in neighbouring Thane district to appear before a court in a 2014 defamation case filed against him by an RSS activist.

BJP leaders and workers held a demonstration near the Congress headquarters on Akbar Road here.

Carrying placards and raising slogans, they slammed the Congress and Gandhi, calling them "traitors" for allegedly tarnishing India's image.

Leading the protest, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva and Lok Sabha MP Manoj Tiwari termed the Youth Congress demonstration an act of "treason".

Police stopped the protesters at a barricade as they tried to march towards the Congress headquarters.

The Youth Congress workers sent to police custody on Saturday were Krishna Hari, national secretary of the outfit from Bihar, Kundan Yadav, state secretary, Bihar, Ajay Kumar, state president, Uttar Pradesh, and Narasimha Yadav from Telangana.

The India AI Impact Summit, inaugurated by Modi, concluded on Friday.

Several heads of state, global leaders in artificial intelligence, academicians and researchers, heads of global tech giants and philanthropists attended the massive meet held at Bharat Mandapam.