Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party have cornered the Congress following a shirtless protest by the Indian Youth Congress workers at the AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam on Friday. Track AI summit updates
Latest to join the BJP chorus against the protest, which several of the leading party leaders have blamed on Rahul Gandhi, is former minister Smiriti Irani who made attacked the grand old party with the Hindi proverb “khisiyani billi khamba noche”. It translates literally to “frustrated cat scratches the pole”, a proverb used when someone takes out anger or frustration at bystanders or objects.
“It takes rare political bankruptcy to convert a global summit into a stage for embarrassing the nation before the world,” Irani wrote in a post on X.
Taking a dig at Congress, she said that theatrics become a final clearance sale when one’s ideas have been “out of stock” for over a decade.
After the Youth Congress workers entered the AI Impact Summit venue on Friday and protested against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the India-US trade deal with slogans like “PM is compromised”, the BJP slammed the Congress as it termed the incident as “national shame”.
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The party said that the Congress party’s protest under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi is an act designed to embarrass India on the world stage.
At least four people have been detained following the protest, and the police said that a legal action is underway, while a senior police officer told news agency PTI that around 10 people were detained when they were protesting at the AI Summit. “They were removed immediately and were taken to Tilak Marg police station. No one will be allowed to breach the law and order situation,” the officer said.
Additional Commissioner of Police Devesh Mahla said the incident occurred around 12:30 pm and that the protestors had registered online for the summit. He said the protestors were wearing sweaters and jackets over objectionable T-shirts. Near Hall Number 5, one of them removed his outer clothing and waved the T-shirt in protest. The official added that appropriate legal action is being taken and that those detained are being identified.
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla hit out at the Congress as he dubbed the protests as “characterless, brainless, and emotionless”, and accused the Congress of undermining national progress.
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He alleged the protest was staged at the ‘behest’ of Rahul Gandhi and is a protest against India’s achievements.
“Congress has once again proven that for them, AI isn’t Ambitious India, Artificial Intelligence, Aspirational India. For them, AI is anti-India. This isn’t the INC, this is the ANC, the anti-National Congress. The AI Summit is being praised worldwide. From President Macron to the United Nations Secretary General, to top tech company honchos, from Sam Altman to Sundar Pichai, everyone is praising it. Even Shashi Tharoor said the AI Summit was excellent,” Poonawalla was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Commerce minister Piyush Goyal targeted Rahul Gandhi and said that the protest was an attempt to embarrass 140 crore Indians globally.
“This is CONGRESS ARROGANCE & FRUSTRATION on display! So, Mr. Rahul Gandhi, humiliating India to target the Government is your idea of opposition!,” Goyal wrote on X, and added, “While you want to CHOKE India’s development by peddling lies about the recent trade deals, your foot soldiers are marching shirtless at the prestigious AI Summit, attempting to embarrass 140 crore Indians globally.”