Amid the tussle between Congress and BJP over the shirtless protest at the AI Summit by members of the Youth Congress, another slugfest has erupted, with the saffron party now claiming a smear campaign to malign the event through a coordinated social media campaign. The BJP has alleged that the Congress, as part of a "well-planned conspiracy", offered money to social media influencers to create and circulate negative videos about the AI summit.
According to the party, members of the Congress PR team approached influencers and proposed payments ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 40,000 in exchange for content portraying the summit as a failure.
BJP claims conspiracy to defame AI Summit
Taking to X, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala claimed Congress ran a campaign to defame the AI Summit and India by paying influencers to "badmouth" the event.
"Congress's paisa lo, AI Summit, Bharat Badnam Karo model. Cong ecosystem paid money to bad mouth AI summit? BJP virodh me desh virodh? After the shirtless act, now this?," he wrote in the post.
Influencers claim campaign to denounce AI Summit
The controversy intensified after several influencers publicly claimed that they had received such offers. In videos shared online, they alleged that individuals linked to Congress had asked them to produce scripted content criticising the event.
Some of them stated that they possess chat messages and audio recordings as evidence of the alleged financial deals.
Shirtless protest
Last Friday, a group of Indian Youth Congress workers staged a shirtless protest inside an exhibition hall during the AI Impact Summit. The protesters walked through the venue holding T shirts bearing slogans against the government and the India-US trade deal, before being escorted out by security personnel.
The Delhi Police later arrested 8 IYC workers, including its president Srinivas BV, in connection with the incident.
Reacting strongly, the BJP described the Congress as "anti-India" and accused it of repeatedly attempting to tarnish the country’s image on public platforms. The Congress has yet to issue a detailed response to the allegations.
