NEW DELHI: Following the arrest of Youth Congress leader Uday Bhanu Chib in connection with the shirtless protest at India AI Impact Summit, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday alleged that the demonstrations were part of a “conspiracy to embarrass India” hatched by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia called the LoP India’s “weakest link”. “Rahul Gandhi hatched this conspiracy to embarrass India… Uday Bhanu Chib was arrested for organising a shirtless protest by Youth Congress workers during the AI Summit, and the Delhi Police sought his 7-day remand from the court. Uday Bhanu Chib has been sent for four days of police custody. Rahul Gandhi has not read a copy of the Constitution. India’s Leader of the Opposition is India’s weakest link. Every citizen of India follows the Constitution because it is the thread that binds Indians together,” he said.
The BJP remarks came after the Delhi Police Crime Branch took over the investigation and arrested IYC National President Uday Bhanu Chib and seven others in the AI Impact Summit shirtless protest case.
Chib, who, according to the police, is the “main conspirator and mastermind” behind the protest, was produced before the Patiala House Court in Delhi. The court remanded him to four days of police custody.
His arrest prompted a sharp reaction from the Congress party, with its national president, Mallikarjun Kharge, accusing the BJP of harassing Youth Congress workers. Kharge sought to remind the BJP of protest by their leaders during the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. “What did Nitin Gadkari and other BJP members do when the Commonwealth Games were going on? Didn’t these people go to every event and create chaos there? At that time, they had no idea about nationalism,” Kharge said.
Kharge further demanded the immediate release of the Congress workers. “Instead of harassing the Youth Congress members, you should let them go, and those who do such things should immediately stop doing them.”
Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday voiced strong support for Youth Congress workers and accused the Centre of compromising national interests through its recent trade agreement with the United States.
Several Congress MLAs wore masks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while others held placards with slogans criticising the agreement. The protest took place during the ongoing Budget Session of the Assembly.
Agencies