Rahul Gandhi is currently in the news for the Centre slamming Congress, especially due to its youth wing and their shirtless protest at the ongoing AI Summit in Delhi, India.
Gandhi is no stranger to criticism for his remarks, and while it is surely the job of the opposition to raise a mirror to the ruling government and ask the hard questions, many have also raised concerns about the impression left internationally when such a senior politician or political party is making remarks that disparage the country itself.
Here are five instances that drew significant public and political commentary for what was said by either Congress or Rahul Gandhi.
Shirtless Protest at the India AI Impact Summit
On February 20, 2026, around 10 Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers staged a shirtless protest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi inside the India AI Impact Summit held at Bharat Mandapam’s Exhibition Hall No. 5 over the proposed India-US trade deal.
The police detained around 10 protesters who raised slogans like “India–US Trade Deal” and “PM is compromised”.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and others labelled the protest “topless, brainless and shameless”, asserting it “undermined India’s image internationally” and accused Congress leadership of orchestrating the disruption.
As per BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya, this protest was allegedly organised by Rahul Gandhi himself, sharing an old photo of Gandhi and his aide, who is said to have organised the protest.
Malviya, in an X/Twitter post, wrote, “At a time when India is hosting a prestigious global AI Summit, showcasing its innovation and leadership in technology, the Congress party chose disruption over dignity.”
He further added how this was “clearly designed to embarrass India on the world stage” and that, “Political opposition is a democratic right, but sabotaging India’s global image is not… India deserves better.”
In another post, he wrote, “Narsimha Yadav, one of the main organisers of today’s naked protest at the AI Summit, has pictures with Rahul Gandhi. This should leave no doubt that the disruption was not incidental; it was orchestrated.
Such theatrics on an international stage only damage India’s image and undermine the very platform meant to showcase the country’s technological leadership. Political disagreements are part of democracy. Embarrassing India before the world is not.”
Rahul Gandhi At Harvard
On December 15, 2023, during an interaction with Harvard University students, he talked about India’s economic growth, democracy and more.
He said, “The question to ask is, what is the nature of that growth and who is benefiting from that. Right next to the figure of growth in India, you have the figure of unemployment in India. So India’s growing, but the way it’s growing is by massively concentrating wealth towards very few people.
We are operating on a debt sort of model, and we are no longer producing. We have two or three businesses that are pretty much entire businesses.”
He further called out Adani, saying, “We have Mr Adani, everybody knows he is directly connected to the prime minister, he owns all our ports, airports, our infrastructure! With that kind of concentration, you will get growth, but you will not get any distribution.”
He added, “Even my social media is fully capped. I’ve got a shadow ban 24/7…my Twitter’s under control, my YouTube is under control, and I’m not alone, the entire opposition. I don’t think India is running a free and fair democracy anymore…”
Read More: Fake Friendly Fridays: Rahul Gandhi Tells Us Why He Loves Criticising His Own Country Internationally
Sought Foreign Intervention In Kashmir
In 2020, soon after Joe Biden was set to take over the President of the United States’ chair, a leader of the Jammu and Kashmir Youth Congress made a video asking for foreign intervention into the Kashmir situation.
Congress youth leader Jahanzeb Sirwal, in his video, stated, “Biden will put pressure on the Indian government, after which the decision to revoke Articles 370 and 35A will be reversed.”
Attack On Democracy
In October 2025, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha spoke at the EIA University in Medellin, Colombia.
During this, he said, “I am very optimistic about India, but at the same time, there are fault lines within the Indian structure, there are risks that India has to overcome. The single-biggest risk is the attack on democracy that is taking place in India. India has multiple religions, traditions and languages.
India is actually a conversation between all its people. Different ideas, religions and traditions require space. The best method for creating that space is the democratic system.”
He added, “Currently, there is a wholesale attack on the democratic system in India, so that is a risk. The other big risk is different conceptions — different religions, different languages.
Allowing these different traditions to thrive, giving them space to express themselves, is very important for a country like India. We cannot do what China does, which is to suppress people and run an authoritarian system.”
Youth Employment
In January 2018, addressing an event involving NRIs in Bahrain, Gandhi criticised the government for the lack of jobs for the youth. He said, “The anger is visible in the streets and is rising rapidly. The government, on the other hand, is busy converting fear into hatred between communities.”
Image Credits: Google Images
Sources: The Economic Times, India Today, TOI
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