BJP seek Rahul’s apology over shirtless protest

The BJP on Monday demanded an apology from Rahul Gandhi over the “shirtless” protest at the India AI Impact Summit last week, saying not just Congress allies, but even leaders of his party have started criticising it.

This came after veteran Congress leader and former Union minister Margaret Alva reportedly criticised the Congress’ youth wing’s protest at the summit, saying that there must be “dignity, discipline and a sense of responsibility” at an international event.

Latching on to Alva’s remarks, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said the “entire country” is perturbed over the Youth Congress’s “nangi (shameless) protest” and now voices against it have started emerging from within the Congress as well.

“Congress allies have already expressed their disapproval (of the youth Congress protest). You must have heard what Akhilesh Yadav said,” Trivedi said at a press conference at the BJP headquarters.

Trivedi said the Congress should now understand that not just allies and people of the country, but its own party leaders have started “rejecting” it because of the ideas it supports.

In a social media post, Trivedi alleged that Alva has exposed Gandhi’s brazen politics and also shown him a mirror with her remarks about the protest at the AI summit.

“Rahul Gandhi has completely come into the grip of the foreign toolkit,” the BJP leader said in the post.

“Everybody is condemning Rahul Gandhi’s shameless mindset of lowering the reputation of the country. Will Rahul apologise for the anti-India protest staged at the 2026 India AI Impact Summit?” Trivedi added.