Delhi Police Arrest IYC Chief Uday Bhanu Chib Over AI Summit Protest

The Delhi Police on Tuesday arrested Uday Bhanu Chib, the national president of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), in connection with a shirtless protest staged at the India AI Impact Summit in the national capital last week.

Chib’s arrest follows an incident on February 20, when Youth Congress workers entered the summit venue at Bharat Mandapam and demonstrated inside the exhibition hall wearing T-shirts with slogans criticising the government and the India–US trade deal. Security personnel later removed the protesters from the venue, which was hosting international delegates.

Police said Chib is the eighth person to be arrested in the case and is suspected of having played a role in planning the protest. A day earlier, the police confirmed the arrest of Jitendra Yadav, identified as the fifth accused, who was detained from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh.

The IYC defended the protest, arguing that peaceful dissent should not be labelled anti-national. IYC National General Secretary Shesh Narayan Ojha said opposing the government was a democratic right and accused the Centre and the Bharatiya Janata Party of portraying criticism as unpatriotic. He alleged that Youth Congress protests across several states had been met with lathi charges, water cannons and detentions, and claimed that attempts were being made to silence the opposition, including in Parliament.

The Congress party condemned Chib’s arrest, calling it unconstitutional and politically motivated. In a post on X, it accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of attempting to curtail citizens’ constitutional right to protest and said it would not be intimidated by such actions.

Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi said he stood with Chib and other detained Youth Congress members. He described peaceful protest as part of the Congress’s historical legacy and accused the government of authoritarianism. Gandhi claimed the India–US trade agreement would damage farmers and the textile industry while compromising India’s data sovereignty, and said exposing these concerns was an act of patriotism rather than a crime.

Congress MP Sasikanth Senthil also supported the IYC leadership, demanding an end to what he described as harassment of young party workers. He said peaceful dissent should not be treated as a criminal act and stressed that young people have the right to question the government, particularly when accountability is required

Who is Uday Bhanu Chib?

Uday Bhanu Chib, 39, was appointed national president of the Indian Youth Congress in September 2024. He began his political career in the Congress’s student wing, the NSUI, and later served as the IYC’s Maharashtra in-charge. An engineering graduate with an MBA, Chib has also held organisational roles in Delhi and is known for his involvement in martial arts, including judo.

Congress leaders have indicated that the party will fully back Chib and the arrested IYC workers, signalling a more confrontational stance against the government over the issue.