BJYM-Congress Workers Face-Off Over ‘Shirtless’ Protest At AI Summit

Mandsaur (Madhya Pradesh): Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) members launched a demonstration at Gandhi Square in Mandsaur city on Saturday against the ‘shirtless’ protest by Congress youth wing workers during the AI Impact Summit held recently in New Delhi.

A large number of BJP leaders and workers also took part in the demonstration. The protesters gathered at the BJP office at Bharat Mata Square and marched together to Gandhi Square. On the way, they raised slogans outside the Congress office and burned an effigy of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi. 

Tensions rose sharply when BJP workers attempted to enter the Congress office. BJYM workers also allegedly defaced portraits of Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi, Jitu Patwari and Meenakshi Natarajan displayed outside the party’s district office.

Some Congress workers reportedly came out of the office in response and leaders of both parties confronted each other with slogans being raised from both sides. The situation turned tense when Congress leader Varsha Sankhla allegedly stood before BJP workers with a slipper in her hand. Police intervened in time and brought the situation under control.

BJYM leaders said that creating a ruckus at an international event is damaging to India’ s global image. They said that at a time when the country is making progress in technology and innovation, such behaviour on an international platform is condemnable and irresponsible. They alleged that the Congress youth wing deliberately used the summit as a ground for political protest.