Dirty, naked politics: PM slams Cong over shirtless protest at AI summit

MEERUT (UP): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the Congress, accusing it of using a global event for its “dirty and naked politics” after its youth wing leaders staged a “shirtless’’ protest during the recent India AI Impact Summit in the national Capital.

PM Modi said the protest showed how “ideologically bankrupt” and “impoverished” the grand old party has become.

“What the Congress leaders did there shows how ideologically bankrupt and impoverished the oldest party of the country has become. Congress is busy defaming its own country. Some political parties within the country cannot digest India’s success. We just witnessed the world’s largest AI conference in India. But what did the Congress and its ecosystem do? The Congress turned a global event for India into a platform for its dirty and naked politics,” the PM said while addressing a gathering in Meerut.

The Prime Minister asserted that the Congress should have remembered the AI Summit was “not a BJP event’.

He said India had hosted the world’s largest AI conference, which filled the country with pride, but the Congress and its ecosystem tried to convert the global event into “dirty and naked politics”. He alleged that Congress leaders resorted to stripping in front of foreign guests, bringing disrepute to the country.

“I want to ask the Congress leaders, the country already knows you are exposed. Then why was there a need to remove clothes,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister said no leaders from the Trinamool Congress, DMK or the BSP were involved in the incident and alleged that only “reckless and uncontrolled” Congress leaders were bent on damaging the country’s image.

He said those aspiring to the prime minister chair must first win the hearts of the people. Drawing a comparison, he said when a wedding takes place in a village, the entire village works to ensure guests leave with a good impression, while the Congress was trying to malign the country itself.

He said people across the country were condemning the Congress conduct and alleged that instead of feeling ashamed, the party leaders were defending those involved.

He said such actions reflected a continuing pattern, adding that the Congress was disrupting Parliament and not allowing even its allies to speak, causing losses to opposition partners.

PM Modi urged the media to identify the Congress separately instead of using generic headlines that blame the entire opposition, saying that other opposition allies were also suffering due to what he called the Congress’ actions.

The Prime Minister said he had earlier asked the Congress, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party to abandon what he described as divisive politics and compete on development, but claimed these parties had not changed their approach. He said the BJP had kept development as its top priority, citing the expansion of metro services from five cities before 2014 to more than 25 cities now.

Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister flagged off the Meerut Metro and the Namo Bharat rapid rail service and travelled with schoolchildren and doctors, interacting with passengers.

He also inaugurated development projects worth Rs 12,930 crore.

Modi alleged that during previous Congress governments, infrastructure projects often got lost to corruption and delays and that metro technology had to be imported from abroad.

He said the current government had curbed corruption, promoted self-reliance and that the lives of people in Meerut and western Uttar Pradesh were set to change with new connectivity projects.

He said both Namo Bharat rapid rail and metro services would now run from the same station on the same track, improving ease of travel for commuters.

The rapid rail will cover the 82.15 km distance between Meerut and New Delhi in about 55 minutes, running from Meerut Modipuram to Sarai Kale Khan.

The corridor will pass through 13 stations, with two underground and the rest elevated.

The metro service will run from Begumpul to Meerut South with seven stations on the route.