New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party claimed on Friday that an internal battle between Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is playing out within the opposition Congress party. The ruling party pointed to the Leader of the Opposition's silence regarding the removal of photographs from Raihan Vadra's recent exhibition as evidence of the alleged fallout.
BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari questioned whether Priyanka Gandhi had lost political faith in her brother, alleging that she was attempting to soft-launch her son by manufacturing a controversy. Rahul Gandhi departed for Vietnam last Sunday on a personal trip and has not issued any public statements on the exhibition dispute.
The political sparring comes shortly after Rahul and Priyanka jointly led demonstrations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged electoral roll irregularities. Bhandari asserted on social media that Rahul, who frequently comments on various issues from abroad, has refrained from tweeting in support of Raihan Vadra, highlighting what the BJP terms a growing divide between the siblings.
The controversy began on Wednesday when artist and photographer Raihan Vadra stated that the Bikaner House administration removed several pictures depicting recent student protests in Delhi ahead of his scheduled exhibition, titled No Idea is Final. The move drew sharp condemnation from the Congress, with Priyanka Gandhi accusing authorities of attempting to muzzle the voices of young people.
Raihan reported that shortly before the gallery doors opened, management instructed him to pull or substitute 74 out of 105 total photographs, leaving only 35 frames on display. In response to the backlash, Bikaner House officials maintained that the removed images violated venue policies.
The BJP subsequently shared email communications between Raihan and the Bikaner House administration to counter the Congress party's narrative. According to the ruling party, the original booking proposal submitted in June outlined non-political themes such as nature, wildlife, abstract art, portraits, and sculptures, with no prior mention of political content.
Bikaner House formally approved the proposal at the end of June. The BJP argued that political photographs were surreptitiously added at a later stage, prompting the venue management to issue a removal notice on October 21 after determining the additions breached established guidelines.
Bhandari stated that the artist was fully aware of the booking rules and maintained a non-political theme for three years of preparation. The BJP concluded that family pressure for a political launch led to the insertion of protest imagery, exposing what it described as falsehoods propagated by Priyanka Gandhi and the Congress.