Kharge slams AI Summit management, alleges global embarrassment

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge alleged chaos and mismanagement at the AI Impact Summit in New Delhi, claiming it caused global embarrassment. He criticised the government’s handling of the event and suggested it could have showcased India’s digital and AI capabilities instead

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday alleged that chaos and mismanagement at the ongoing AI Impact Summit here are causing global embarrassment to the country due to the incompetence of the government.

He also said the Summit could instead have been used to showcase India’s digital and Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities.

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“What could have been a showpiece AI Summit for the entire world, demonstrating the digital and AI capabilities of India, has reportedly turned into utter chaos and rank mismanagement by this ‘PR-hungry’ government!” Kharge said in a post on X.

He alleged that founders, exhibitors and visitors had to face extreme distress due to the prime minister “gatecrashing” for a “photo opportunity” on the very first day (Monday) of the five-day Summit.

“Exhibitors were left without food and water, their products were stolen, Digi Yatra miserably failed, laptops, personal electronic devices and even bags were prohibited, only cash instead of digital or UPI payment was accepted, and founders were made to pay huge sums without basic facilities, among many other reasons for distress,” the Congress chief claimed.

“It is extremely unfortunate that our country has to suffer this global embarrassment due to the incompetence of our own government,” Kharge said.

Perhaps the Modi government should learn from the Bengaluru Tech Summit (BTS), which is an annual event, in smoothly organising such large-scale digital and tech congregations, the Congress president suggested.

In a post on its X handle, the Congress said, “Absolute mayhem. Horrifying chaos. Zero civic sense. The India AI Summit, an event meant to showcase India’s AI ambitions to the world, soon turned into a chaotic, poorly managed photo op for PM Modi.”

The main hall was cleared for the prime minister’s visit, while security personnel were reportedly found misbehaving. Founders reported that their products were stolen, while exhibitors were evicted from their own stalls which they had paid for, the party claimed.

“Adding insult to injury, the AI event saw multiple demonstrations fail due to unstable internet, while laptops and cameras were banned. At a tech event, no less. Even the food stalls refused to accept digital payments, preferring to deal only in cash,” the Congress claimed.

“When incompetence becomes normalised, embarrassment becomes the norm. Shameful!” the opposition party added.

India is hosting the AI Impact Summit at the Bharat Mandapam along with the India AI Impact Expo 2026 from February 16 to 20.

The world’s largest AI summit opened on Monday to packed halls and long queues as tech leaders, industry heads, policymakers, founders and technologists thronged the venue for the conference.

The final two days of the summit, February 19 and 20, will see more than 20 heads of state, including France’s Emmanuel Macron and Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, speak about the future of AI alongside business leaders and investors.