The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) has faced severe backlash from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for their recent protest at the India AI Impact Summit 2026 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi by way of shirtless demonstrations as being a “national embarrassment” and something that woefully represents India to the world.
BJP leaders and ministers made multiple statements on social media and in public forums condemning IYC for using theatrics over dignity at a vital time when India’s showing that they are a leader in artificial intelligence and other areas of technology globally.
The Youth Congress’ protest at this important global event made headlines and was noted at the event where Youth Congress removed their shirts as they shouted anti-Prime Minister Modi slogans and protested the proposed India/US trade agreement by temporarily disrupting the conference proceedings before their party members were quickly detained by security personnel.
BJP representatives stated that the protest, which occurred at the summit, would possibly diminish some of the summit’s purpose of demonstrating to the worldwide gathering of global leaders – leading technology heads in the world, CEO’s of global technology corporations, and researchers – that India should be a global leader in technology development.
BJP’s Sharp Rhetoric Against Congress Leadership
In an era of unrelenting political divisiveness, Union Ministers and other spokespersons have expressed their disdain for Congressional protest activities by calling them a “national disgrace” or “anti-India”. Union Minister Kiren Rijiju stated that turning an AI Summit into a political circus was a violation of Indian values while referring to Congress as a “national disgrace” on the social media platform X.
Numerous other senior members of BJPs and various BJP spokespersons directed their ire toward Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for supposedly orchestrating the events and attempting to demean India’s image. There were calls from the BJP for Congress to apologize to the Indian public for their apparent attempts to purposely demean India’s name in front of the international community.
The BJP’s part of the political establishment: with Malviya, head of the BJP IT Cell, stating that the Congress Party has chosen political disruption over political dignity; that the Congress’ naked display of political protest hurt India’s national image at such an important event. Numerous spokespersons of the BJP also described the protest action as irrational political activity unbecoming of a member of the opposition.
Yet another member of the BJP claimed that photographs of protest organizer Narsimha Yadav with Rahul Gandhi have been widely displayed and communicated through social media, suggesting that the protest was premeditated and politically motivated.
Government Sees Political Point-Scoring
Multiple BJP ministers have charged the opposition of misusing the summit for political gain. Union Minister Piyush Goyal characterized the protests as an attempt to “embarrass Indians globally” and displayed Congress’ lack of vision, but others used harsher language in denouncing their behaviour.
The strong reaction by the BJP indicates fears that political protests at international events could undermine India’s ability to attract global partnerships and investment into innovative technologies.
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Congress Responds to the Right to Protest
Despite severe criticism from the BJP, the Indian Youth Congress reaffirmed that its actions represent a legitimate exercise of democratic rights and are therefore an acceptable means of drawing attention to the large number of unemployed individuals in India and what they see as compromising trade agreements with other countries. The Youth Congress contended that they are not against the summit, but rather are against using the summit to express citizens’ legitimate concerns.
While senior members of Congress have asserted that protests are part of democratic expression, no comprehensive party response regarding the controversy has yet been issued.
The AI Impact Summit which will occur from February 16, 2020 to February 20, 2020 at Bharat Mandapam located in New Delhi is an important global event bringing together global leaders, technology experts and innovators to discuss the future of artificial intelligence (AI). It was opened by Prime Minister Narendar Modi.
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