Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked several opposition parties for backing “national pride” while targeting the Congress over its "shirtless" protest at the Artificial Intelligence Summit in Delhi. PM Modisaidthat the Congress turned an international event hosted by the country into an arena for its "gandi aur nangi (dirty and shameless)" politics. At the AI Impact Summit-2026, Congress leaders held 'shirtless protest', holding T-shirts bearing images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Donald Trump, along with slogans against the government and the India-US trade deal. They also allegedly engaged in a protracted scuffle with security personnel and police staff deployed at the venue.
PM Modi thanked several opposition parties for criticising the incident, saying they had stood with truth and national pride. Referring to other opposition parties, he said the alleged actions were limited to Congress leaders alone and did not involve its allies such as the Trinamool Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Bahujan Samaj Party and National Conference. "I humbly request the media that when we criticise such actions, please do not run headlines saying 'Modi lashes out at the Opposition'. Please stop these attempts to shield the Congress," he said.
Cong turned AI Summit into arena for its 'gandi aur nangi' politics: PM Modi
Several allies of the Congress party have condemned the shirtless protest. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadavsaidthat while parties may have political differences with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a protest that brings "shame" to the nation in front of foreign dignitaries should not have been carried out.
West Bengal Minister of Information Technology and Electronics and TMC leader, Babul Supriyo, also criticised the Congress' protest stating that political fight should never be at the expense of the country's honour. The TMC leader also stated that democracy guarantees the right to protest, but it also demands responsibility.
Congress' conduct showed how "ideologically bankrupt and impoverished" the party had become, he said. "What did Congress and its ecosystem do? They turned a global event of India into an arena for their 'gandi aur nangi' (dirty and shameless) politics. Congress leaders arrived at the venue in front of foreign guests after taking off their clothes," PM Modi said while addressing a public gathering after inaugurating development projects, including the Namo Bharat rail and the Meerut Metro Rail extension on Sunday.
"I want to ask Congress leaders -- the country already knows you are 'nange' (exposed), so why was there any need to strip further? he said in a stinging rebuke at the opposition party.
"The leaders of the Congress hate Modi. They want to dig my grave. They have no hesitation in even abusing my mother. They oppose the BJP and they oppose the National Democratic Alliance -- that may be necessary in their politics, and we can understand that. We will tolerate that too. But Congress should have remembered that the Artificial Intelligence Global Summit was not a BJP programme. No BJP leader was present there at that time. It was a programme of the nation."
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Apoorva Shukla is a journalist at Times Now, where she thrives on dissecting political developments both at home and abroad. A graduate of Delhi Univ...View More
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