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On February 18, 2026, Congress national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera attacked harshly at the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government over the unruly first day at the India AI Impact Expo & Summit 2026 in Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi. His comments were made after almost 400 final-year B.Tech students of Galgotias University, Greater Noida, were given an order to leave the venue mid-day because of terrible logistical failure.

Khera called the incident a national embarrassment and a personal insult to the young generation of Indians and those in the lives of Indians aspiring to startups, writing about it in a highly emotive press conference and a surge of posts on X.

He said, "The government had to pay crores of money in order to hold what they termed as the biggest AI showcase in India. More than 600 startups were invited, and all of the global leaders were promised the experience of the world. But what did our students get? Long queues under the sun, no internet, no water, thefts in the venue, flushed toilets, and no assistance on the part of the organizers. Students of Galgotias University, young and promising young people who had to travel 60 km to have some hope, had to do without even entering the main hall. This is not an artificial intelligence conference; this is disgraceful malpractice.

Khera criticized the government on hype without homework and raised some questions over the involvement of the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) and co-organizers of the event Nasscom. How could you lead the world in artificial intelligence when you cannot deal with entry, security, and internet, not to mention just basic amenities for 10,000–15,000 people? he went through.

He also directed the Anganita apology by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who was apologizing later, which he termed as too little too late.

The damage was done, and the minister apologized. The students wasted one day without networking, demos, and internship opportunities. There were numerous parents who used money on traveling and uniforms. This is not government; this is high-rank negligence.

Khera insisted on an inquiry of the planning, money spent, and accountability of the event at a high level. He also demanded compensation for the affected students and institutions, one of them being Galgotias University, and urged the government to publish a white paper on the amount of public money wasted versus the accomplishment it was expected to provide.

The scandal has dominated the social platforms, with hashtags such as #AISummitChaos, #GalgotiasStudents, and #VaishnawApology trending on different social sites. Although the organizers of the summit have assured of a smooth Day 2 and Day 3, the Day 1 debacle—the mass outflow of Galgotias students in particular—has already become the subject of extensive discussions, with the opposition trying to take this day and related issues to question the ability of the Modi government to execute high-profile events in the country.