10 detained for staging protest at AI Impact Summit expo hall
New Delhi (PTI): A group of Indian Youth Congress (IYC) workers staged a brief protest at an exhibition hall of the AI Impact Summit and raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, before being whisked away by the security personnel.
A senior police officer said that around 10 people were detained when they were protesting at the AI Summit.
"They were removed immediately and were taken to Tilak Marg police station. No one will be allowed to breach law and order situation," the officer said.
The protesters marched inside Hall No 5, wearing or holding white T-shirts with images of Prime Minister Modi and US President Donald Trump printed on them along with slogans such as "India US Trade Deal", "Epstein Files" and "PM is compromised", soon resulting in a commotion.
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The ensuing melee witnessed heated exchanges between some of the attendees of the mega event and a few protesters.
While the protesters carried no party flags or any symbols to suggest they had any political affiliation, one of them claimed that he was "from the Indian Youth Congress".
A Delhi Police personnel on duty said they are going to heighten security inside the halls after the "unfortunate episode".
The protest, which lasted a few minutes before the group was bundled out of the hall, caught the guests and other visitors by surprise, many of whom watched the unfolding scenes in disbelief, given the significance of the AI Summit that India is hosting.
The AI Impact Summit is being held from February 16-20 at Bharat Mandapam, in which several heads of state, many global AI leaders, academicians and researchers, and heads of global tech giants, and philanthropists are taking part.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the AI Impact Summit 2026 here on Thursday, in the presence of several world leaders and heads of global tech giants.
As the protesters marched out of the hall and towards the lobby and stood against a massive backdrop mounted there shouting the "PM is compromised", a guest carrying an authenticated entry badge told them that it is they "who were compromised" as this episode "tarnished the image of India". The guest urged security personnel to whisk them away from the venue.
A student from Ludhiana, who visited the Impact Arena at the summit venue on Friday, said general visitors have to register online from the summit website and a QR code comes on the e-mail, which carries the name and identity of their organisation or institution, and this QR code is used to enter the premises at Bharat Mandapam.
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We received request; will decide soon whether to support TVK: Thirumavalavan
Chennai (PTI): VCK leader Thol Thirumavalavan on Thursday said that his party received a request from TVK for support and the high-level committee of his party will decide whether to support the Vijay-led party to form the government.
The TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Assembly and emerged as the single largest party. Vijay will have to resign from one of the two constituencies he has won.
Though the Congress party, which has five MLAs, has extended support to TVK, the actor-politician-led party was still short of as many seats to touch the magic number of 118, the majority mark in the 234-member House.
"We received the request letter from TVK. We are thankful for that. We have not ignored his (Vijay's) request. We have a procedure. Therefore, our party's high-level committee will decide soon. We are going to discuss the merits and demerits of our position," the VCK leader told reporters here.
With regard to the delay in the governor's call to the TVK, which is the single largest party, to form the government, Thirumavalavan requested the governor to invite Vijay to form the government. "It is a constitutional right and people's verdict," he added.
Asserting that the governor cannot say that Vijay should hold 118 MLAs' support now itself to form the government, he said that after taking over power, Vijay has to prove an absolute majority only on the floor of the Assembly.
