Prime Minister Modi on Sunday launched a sharp attack on Congress for its “dirty and shameful” politics over the protest by Indian Youth Congress workers at the AI summit.
The shirtless protest of Indian Youth Congress workers at the AI Impact 2026 Summit on Friday continued to fuel political discord as Prime Minister Narendra Modi also attacked the main opposition party on Sunday. Modi described the protest as an act of “dirty and shameful politics” that “brought shame to the country” in front of international guests.
In response to Modi’s remarks, the Congress shared an old, undated photo of former Haryana minister Anil Vij at a public gathering, apparently a protest march, where Vij and others in the crowd were shirtless.
The photo was shared by Congress leader Srinivas BV, who also served as the president of the Indian Youth Congress.
“If taking off your shirt to protest is called nudity? Then what do you call that?” Srinivas wrote in the caption of the photo on X.
The IYC workers’ protest at the AI Summit on Friday turned into a flashpoint between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party, which slammed the grand old party over the protest that it said embarrassed India in front of the foreign delegates present at the summit.
A video of the protest went viral on social media showing several protesters marching around with their T-shirts in their hands and shouting anti-Modi slogans, echoing the party’s protests against the Indo-US trade deal in Parliament recently.
Police later said that the protesters registered for the summit online and entered the summit venue wearing jackets or jackets, which they removed after entering the main venue. The police took them and detained them. Four demonstrators were arrested and placed in pretrial detention for five days.
India Bloc allies at Shirtless Youth Congress protest
India Bloc partner and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav opposed the shirtless protest and said it was inappropriate, though he maintained his broader criticism of the BJP-led central government.
“We may have differences within India, and the BJP government is actually cheating all of us. But that is a separate thing. What the Congress did on the global platform was not appropriate. They should have refrained from doing something that brings shame to our country in front of foreign delegates and world representatives,” Yadav said while speaking to party workers in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, according to news agency ANI.
TMC’s Babul Supriyo also opposed the protest and said political combat should never be at the expense of the country’s honor, adding that democracy guarantees the right to protest, but also requires responsibility.
“The shirtless protest by members of the Indian Youth Congress at the AI Summit reflects poor governance. At a forum attended by international leaders and global business figures, such behavior sends the wrong message about our national priorities,” he said in X’s post.
However, Asim Waqar, spokesperson of Asaduddin Owaisi’s AIMIM, expressed support for the protest and likened it to freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi’s rebellion against British colonial rule.
The trade agreement between India and the United States is at the heart of the controversy
At the heart of the protest dispute is the Indo-US trade deal, which the opposition has criticized, claiming that the agreement undermines the interests of Indian farmers. Uncertainty now hangs over the deal after the US Supreme Court on Friday rejected global tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump and Trump responded with a 15% tariff.
The Congress criticized the Center in the wake of the developments with party leader Jairam Ramesh questioning the Center why SCOTUS did not wait on Trump’s tariffs before agreeing to a framework for a trade deal with Washington.
Ramesh wrote on February 2, 2026?
Meanwhile, Delhi’s Patiala House Court on Saturday rejected the bail application of four accused in the Amnesty International Summit protest case, observing that the national interest and international image of the country cannot be compromised. The Court noted that actions capable of disrupting events of global importance require serious scrutiny and effective investigation.
