Hyderabad: Workers of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) staged a demonstration inside the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium here on Sunday during the IPL match between Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), holding up placards reading “PM is compromised” in a coordinated flash protest targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Rows of IYC workers in the stands unfurled large letter cards spelling out the slogan twice over in full public view, in what the organisation described as part of its ongoing campaign demanding accountability from the Prime Minister over the recent trade deal between India and the US and what Congress has been calling the secret of “16.”
The protesters demanded to know why Modi had “surrendered” before US President Donald Trump, what transpired in what they referred to as the “secret of 16,” and whether the PM had compromised national interests in his dealings with Washington.
“Modi ji, ab toh bata dijiye — desh ka sauda kyun kiya? Trump ke saamne surrender kyun kiya? Ye ’16’ ka kya mamla hai?” the IYC posted on social media, adding, “Nation wants answers.”
What is ’16’?
The number traces back to a riddle Rahul Gandhi posed on the floor of Parliament on April 16. Wrapping up a debate on delimitation and the women’s reservation Bill, he told the House that he had a puzzle to share, and that “everything is in the number 16.”
The Congress subsequently made the subtext explicit on social media, posting, “Yesterday, the Prime Minister was low on energy. Suddenly, I noticed it was the 16th of April. My God, how crazy! The number: Sixteen. (Sixteen sounds a lot like Epstein, doesn’t it?)”
The Jeffrey Epstein reference was to at least 16 files that disappeared from the US Justice Department’s website relating to the disgraced financier and registered sex offender, including, reportedly, a photograph featuring Donald Trump.
In January this year, the Centre had rejected the contents of newly released Epstein emails that purportedly suggested Trump had played a role in Modi’s visit to Israel in 2017, dismissing them as “trashy ruminations by a convicted criminal.”
The broader political fuel for the “PM is compromised” campaign is the India-US trade deal announced in early February, under which India committed to purchasing USD 500 billion worth of American goods over five years and not purchasing Russian oil in exchange for the US cutting its reciprocal tariff on Indian goods from 25 per cent to 18 per cent.
Gandhi had accused Modi of having “surrendered on tariffs” and said the Prime Minister had “sold the country” in the deal.
From AI summit to IPL stands
The Hyderabad demonstration was the latest in a series of provocative public actions by the IYC. On February 20, the organisation’s workers staged a shirtless protest inside the venue of the Global AI Impact Summit at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi, raising the same “PM is compromised” slogans over the India-US trade deal.
Four of the protesters were subsequently sent to police custody by a court. Prime Minister Modi himself hit back at the protest in a public address in Meerut, accusing Congress of turning a global platform into an arena for “dirty and naked politics.”
The IYC referred to its activist cadre as “Rahul Gandhi’s Babbar Sher” and said they would continue pressing the Prime Minister with questions “non-stop” across public platforms.
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