Kharge Criticizes Government for AI Summit Chaos and Embarrassment

New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday alleged that the chaos and mismanagement at the ongoing AI Impact Summit here is giving the country global embarrassment due to the incompetence of the government. He also said the Summit could have been used for showcasing India's digital and Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities instead.

"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 are left without food and water, their products are stolen, Digi Yatra miserably fails, laptops, personal electronic devices and even bags are prohibited, only cash instead of digital/UPI payment is accepted, and founders are made to pay huge sums without basic facilities, among many other reasons of 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 feature, 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 their products were stolen, while exhibitors were evicted from their own stalls, the ones 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 16-20.

The world's largest AI summit opened on Monday to packed halls and long queues, as tech moguls, industry leaders, 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, talking about the future of AI alongside business leaders and investors.