The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched a fresh criticism against the Congress and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, for a shirtless protest staged by the party’s youth wing at the AI Impact Summit. Referring to an example from the time of Jawaharlal Nehru, the BJP questioned why the Congress was disregarding Nehru’s views on national identity and representation.
The BJP suggested that if Nehru once believed that a child born to a foreigner should not represent the nation, the Congress should reconsider that stance today. This was seen as an indirect reference to Rahul Gandhi, whose mother, Sonia Gandhi, is of Italian origin.
Amit Malviya, the BJP IT cell chief, shared a video clip of Rahul Gandhi on social media where he appeared to smile and comment on the protest at the AI Impact Summit. In the video, Rahul Gandhi was heard saying, “Kar diya kaam Youth Congress walo ne (Youth Congress members have done the job),” in reference to the demonstration by Indian Youth Congress members.
Indian Youth Congress workers had staged a ‘shirtless’ protest at the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi on February 20. The protesters breached security at the venue and revealed T-shirts with slogans critical of the government and India-US trade agreements.
Criticism of the incident came from various political quarters, including some allies of the Congress party within the INDIA bloc, who accused the protest of harming the country’s image on an international platform. Amit Malviya criticized Rahul Gandhi’s reaction to the protest, highlighting that it embarrassed India globally.
