You are exposed, no need to strip further: PM Modi hits out at Congress

New Delhi: "I want to ask Congress leaders - the country already knows you are exposed, so why was there any need to strip further?" Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Sunday, attacking the party over the shirtless protest by some of its workers at last week's AI Impact Summit.

Breaking his silence on the episode, Modi accused the principal Opposition of indulging in "dirty and shameless" politics that hurt India's dignity and invited criticism even from other parties that stood for "truth and national pride".

Addressing a public meeting in Meerut after inaugurating development projects, including the Namo Bharat Rail and the Meerut Metro extension, the Prime Minister said the Congress had "crossed all limits" and become "ideologically bankrupt and impoverished". He alleged that the protest reflected the state of the country's oldest party and amounted to defaming the nation.


"Congress should have remembered that the AI Global Summit was not a BJP programme; it was a programme of the nation," he said, adding that other Opposition parties such as the TMC, DMK, BSP and NC had distanced themselves from the conduct. Modi also accused sections of the national media of "shielding the Congress" and appealed to the national media to "report accurately." "Don't make headlines like 'Modi slammed the opposition.' By calling it 'the opposition,' you save Congress, while other opposition parties suffer. Congress commits the sin, but others pay the price...," he stated.

Modi also targeted the Congress over disruptions during the Budget Session.