BJP members stage a demonstration over Indian Youth Congress workers’ ‘shirtless protest’ at an AI Impact Summit exhibition hall, in New Delhi, on February 21, 2026.
| Photo Credit: PTI
The BJP leaders and workers on Saturday (February 21, 2026) held a demonstration near Congress headquarters on Akbar Road here against a “shirtless” protest by the latter’s youth wing at the AI Impact Summit.
The BJP protesters, carrying placards and raising slogans, slammed the Congress and its leader, Rahul Gandhi, calling them “traitors” for allegedly tarnishing the nation’s image.
Leading the protest, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva and Lok Sabha MP Manoj Tiwari termed the demonstration by IYC as an act of “treason”.
Mr. Sachdeva, while addressing the protesters, said the Congress and its leader, Rahul Gandhi, are unable to digest the country’s success. While opposing Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they have now started opposing India.
“The protest by hired goons of the Congress dented the image of the country on the world stage, and every Indian who takes pride in the success of the country is ashamed by it,” he said.
Several BJP leaders, including state general secretary Vishnu Mittal and MLA Raj Kumar Bhatia, along with a large number of workers, gathered for the protest at Man Singh Road.
Police personnel stopped them at a barricade as they tried to march towards Congress headquarters at Akbar Road.
On Friday (February 20, 2026), a group of Indian Youth Congress workers staged a dramatic “shirtless protest” at the AI Impact Summit exhibition hall in Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam, walking around holding t-shirts with slogans against the government and the India-US trade deal printed on them.
Following the incident, the Delhi Police arrested four IYC workers in connection with the protest at the Summit venue, with a senior officer saying that a probe for a wider conspiracy is underway.
AI Impact Summit, inaugurated by Mr. Modi, concluded on Friday (February 20, 2026).
Several heads of state, global AI leaders, academicians and researchers, heads of global tech giants and philanthropists attended the massive meet held at Bharat Mandapam.
Published – February 21, 2026 12:41 pm IST
