New Delhi: Senior Congress chief Margaret Alva Monday expressed her disagreement with the Indian Youth Congress’s (IYC’s) protest at India AI Affect Summit at Delhi’s Bharat Mandapam final week, underscoring the necessity for “dignity and self-discipline” at worldwide occasions.

Alva, who later clarified that she stays dedicated to the Congress, is the primary distinguished face of the principal opposition social gathering to vary with its youth wing’s strategy—which has been endorsed by many leaders near the social gathering excessive command.

The BJP, latching on to her remarks, opened a contemporary entrance in opposition to the Congress, accusing it of denigrating the nation.

BJP spokesperson Guru Prakash Paswan stated Alva’s assertion has proven that even senior Congress leaders usually are not snug with the way during which the Youth Congress protested on the summit attended by delegates from the world over.

“When your individual former Union Minister like Margaret Alva says worldwide platforms demand dignity, self-discipline and duty, what precisely was Youth Congress doing on the India AI Summit? India is showcasing its technological rise to the world, however Congress can’t rise above disruption politics. World stage pe bhi avenue politics? This isn’t opposition. That is embarrassment,” Paswan wrote on X.

BJP chief Amar Patnaik stated Alva’s comment was illustrative of the Congress’s “fall”.

“It’s fairly a second when their very own senior management has to distance itself from the hooliganism of the Youth Congress. Whereas the world was Bharat as a worldwide chief in the course of the India AI Summit, the Congress was busy with ‘topless and brainless’ antics that solely served to embarrass the nation. It’s a disgrace that as an alternative of contributing to the nation’s progress, they’re obsessive about low cost stunts that even their very own veterans can now not defend,” Patnaik stated in an announcement.

Final Friday, some IYC staff staged a shirtless protest at an exhibition corridor in the course of the AI Affect Summit, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being “compromised” within the context of the India-US interim commerce deal.

After her assertion turned a political embarrassment for the Congress, Alva, 83, a multiple-term parliamentarian who has served as governor of a number of states issued a clarification, flagging makes an attempt to “spin a private opinion into complicated political drama”.

“In contrast to the RSS and BJP, the Congress Get together has all the time allowed and welcomed numerous factors of view, dissent, and constructive criticism. My views on the protest on the AI Convention are private and don’t diminish my unwavering dedication to the Congress Get together and its ideology,” she posted on X.

In contrast to the RSS & the BJP the Congress Get together has all the time allowed & welcomed numerous factors of view, dissent & constructive criticism. My views on the protest on the AI Convention are private and don’t diminish my unwavering dedication to the Congress Get together & its ideology.

— Margaret Alva (@alva_margaret) February 23, 2026

‘Detention fully unlawful’: Venugopal

In the meantime, AICC Basic Secretary Okay. C. Venugopal slammed motion taken in opposition to IYC president Uday Bhanu Chib and others in reference to the protest, calling their detention “fully unlawful”.

“Strongly condemn the detention of IYC President and cadre by the Delhi Police in reference to their protest on the AI Summit. This authorities forgets that protests are the guts of democracy, and never against the law,” he wrote on X. 

He additional commented that what IYC staff did was “bravely expose how the PM is compromised”. 

Strongly condemn the detention of IYC President and cadre by the Delhi Police in reference to their protest on the AI Summit.

This authorities forgets that protests are the guts of democracy, and never against the law.

What our IYC staff did was to bravely expose how the PM is… https://t.co/ZOjY7HPKkm

— Okay C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) February 23, 2026

“This was finished in a peaceable method, with none instigation of violence. This detention is totally unlawful. We demand that all of them be launched instantly and all expenses be dropped.

(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)

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Additionally Learn: Modi tears into Congress over AI summit protest. ‘Turned world occasion into area for bare, soiled politics’

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