BJP youth wing protesting outside Rahul Gandhi’s house. (Screengrab)
NEW DELHI: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) youth wing on Friday staged a protest outside Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Delhi house, hours after the members from the rival camp tricked their way into Bharat Mandapam and tried to disrupt the government’s ambitious ongoing AI summit.The incident opened a new front of contention between the political nemeses, with the BJP accusing the Congress of tarnishing the nation’s reputation.Calling Rahul Gandhi a “traitor,” a protesting BJP Yuva Morcha leader, who was being bundled into a van, said, “This shows their ideology against the country. If you want to protest, protest the policies. They have protested against their own country.””The way Rahul Gandhi and the Congress Party tarnished India’s reputation by storming the AI Summit…Rahul Gandhi continues to try to tarnish India’s reputation on the international stage. Traitor Rahul Gandhi,” a BJP Yuva Morcha leader told news agency ANI. The demonstration followed after the members of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) staged a protest at the Bharat Mandapam venue of the Al Impact India Summit by removing their shirts with slogans that read, “Compromised PM”.In a statement, the Indian Youth Congress said its workers were protesting against a “compromised Prime Minister who has traded the identity of the country at the Al Summit”. “Indian Youth Congress workers raised their voice and protested against the compromised Prime Minister who has traded the identity of the country at the AI Summit,” the organisation said in an official post.”Instead of leveraging India’s talent and data, the AI summit is a disorganised PR spectacle – Indian data up for sale, Chinese products showcased,” it added.”The truth cannot be hidden behind the glittering stage of the AI Summit. When corporate interests are placed above the nation’s welfare and there is visible softness in foreign policy, protest becomes a duty,” the organisation said in a separate post.Meanwhile, Delhi Police have detained four IYC workers during a protest at the convention centre in the national capital.Also, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva announced a protest outside the Congress headquarters on Saturday to condemn Youth Congress workers’ “hooliganism” at the “AI Impact Summit”.Sachdeva said he will lead the protest march from Man Singh Road roundabout to the Congress office at 24 Akbar Road to expose the negative mindset of the Congress and its attempt to malign the country.The Delhi BJP chief said the 10 people detained by police for their “shirtless” protest at the Summit venue on Friday were not Congress workers but hired goons.“At a time when India’s youth are showcasing their innovations at the AI Summit and saluting the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, these individuals created disruption,” said Sachdeva.“If they believe that such actions will damage the nation’s image, they should dispel this misconception. These people claim to be workers of the Congress party led by Rahul Gandhi, who goes abroad and speaks in a manner that harms India’s image,” he said.
