Topless Men Mount Reckless Protest at India’s International AI Gathering; Several Detained, Security Beefed Up
A group of young men said to be linked to the Indian Youth Congress, a major wing of the Indian National Congress which is India's primary Opposition Party, staged a brief shirtless protest inside New Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam on February 20, 2026. They disrupted proceedings at the India AI Impact Summit 2026, a high-profile event that is being attended by global technology leaders and government officials.
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| Shirtless Protest Snap; Via: TheIndeWire on X |
They then began removing their shirts and chanting slogans targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government.
जब विदेश नीति में झुकाव, कॉरपोरेट दबाव और चुप्पी हावी हो… तो साफ है, PM मोदी COMPROMISED हैं!! 🔥
— Indian Youth Congress (@IYC) February 20, 2026
इसी सच्चाई को बेनकाब करने भारतीय युवा कांग्रेस के जाबांज कार्यकर्ता AI Summit पहुँचे और “Compromised PM” के खिलाफ विरोध प्रदर्शन किया!
देश की अस्मिता से कोई समझौता नहीं!
इंकलाब… pic.twitter.com/YMFw2zihRj
Videos circulating online show the protest unfolding inside the cavernous, modern hall while attendees in business suits and conference badges look on in dismay, many raising phones to record as the disruption unfolds.
Rahul Gandhi hates seeing India succeed.
— Anoop Antony Joseph (@AnoopKaippalli) February 20, 2026
First he insults the global AI Summit as a 'PR spectacle,' then his shirtless Youth Congress goons storm the venue, creating chaos. Turning a prestigious tech platform meant for our innovators into a vulgar circus is a desperate,… pic.twitter.com/bC6W9mtGcd
The protesters, mostly men in their 20s and 30s, were seen either already bare-chested or pulling off white T-shirts printed with red graphics featuring the Prime Minister’s face and the words “PM IS COMPROMISED.”
Several held the shirts aloft like placards, waved them above their heads. Others clench raised fists, pointed toward summit signage, and shouted anti-government slogans. The chants were partially drowned out by ambient noise but references to alleged corporate pressure, unemployment, inflation and the India–U.S. trade framework were audible in some clips.
This is CONGRESS ARROGANCE & FRUSTRATION on display!
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) February 20, 2026
So, Mr. Rahul Gandhi, humiliating India to target the Government is your idea of opposition!
While you want to CHOKE India's development by peddling lies about the recent trade deals, your foot soldiers are marching shirtless… https://t.co/inDbpGcNoY
Some protesters formed a tight line before the summit banner; others jumped in place, creating a sudden pocket of commotion in an otherwise controlled, high-tech environment.
The Youth Congress framed the action as a protest against unemployment and what it described as government policies favoring corporations. Its National president Uday Bhanu Chib was quoted by Mint as saying that the anger expressed was not limited to party workers but reflected broader frustration among unemployed youth.
Shirtless protest by Youth Congress at AI summit.
— Maj Manik M Jolly,SM (@Manik_M_Jolly) February 20, 2026
They really think they’ll insult national efforts like this and people will warm up to them ? It has the exact opposite impact. But then it’ll be too much to expect from these people to understand this when their leader never… pic.twitter.com/WN04XpNqjm
The group also criticized the summit, featuring tech and AI giants such as Sundar Pichai and Sam Altman, as a “PR spectacle,” and raised allegations that the Prime Minister was “compromised,” references that included contentious issues such as foreign policy alignments and even mentions of the so-called “Epstein files,” though no evidence was presented to substantiate the same.
देश जानना चाहता है, AI Summit से हासिल क्या हुआ?
— Alok Sharma (@Aloksharmaaicc) February 20, 2026
घोषणाएँ हुईं, भाषण हुए, फोटो सेशन हुए… लेकिन क्या कोई ठोस पॉलिसी आई?
क्या कोई इंडियन AI मॉडल लॉन्च हुआ?
क्या युवाओं के लिए कोई स्किलिंग रोडमैप आया?
या फिर ये सिर्फ़ “इवेंट मैनेजमेंट” का शो था? pic.twitter.com/JP8lM47OEw
Security personnel intervened within minutes. Verified footage circulating online showed uniformed staff and police moving in quickly, encircling the group, gripping arms and guiding them toward exits.
Some protesters appeared to resist mildly while continuing to chant. Subsequent visuals showed police forming a line outside the hall, with several demonstrators detained under temporary tents or in open areas near the complex. Delhi Police said about ten individuals were detained and that legal action was being pursued for disrupting the event.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) condemned the protest in strong terms, with spokespersons describing it as a “national shame” and accusing the opposition Congress party of embarrassing India at a global forum.
जब पूरा विश्व भारत को नई दिल्ली में मौजूद भारत मंडपम में आयोजित एआई इम्पैक्ट समिट की मेजबानी करते हुए देख रहा था और तकनीक व नवाचार के क्षेत्र में हमारे बढ़ते वैश्विक नेतृत्व का साक्षी बन रहा था, उस समय कांग्रेस ने देश का सम्मान बढ़ाने के बजाय आयोजन में व्यवधान उत्पन्न करने का…
— Rajnath Singh (@rajnathsingh) February 20, 2026
Some BJP leaders suggested the demonstration reflected hostility toward India’s technological ambitions. Online reactions on X, formerly Twitter, were largely critical, with many users calling the protest inappropriate for an international summit, while others questioned its theatrics and some also questioned the absence of women participants.
A Portrait of The Darwin Walla as a Shirtless Italian Chef pic.twitter.com/Hby7rBPy62
— mayank austen soofi—InshaJoyce (@thedelhiwalla) May 26, 2018
The disruption lasted less than ten minutes but punctured the carefully curated optics of a summit that was positioned as a showcase of India’s digital ambitions. For a brief interval, amid LED displays and slogans promising welfare and happiness, the focus shifted from artificial intelligence to a raw display of political anger, captured in real time on dozens of smartphone screens.