NEW DELHI: Raihan Vadra, son of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and businessman Robert Vadra, on Thursday said that any curtailment of freedom of expression and art was wrong, alleging that Bikaner House management had asked him to remove photographs depicting youth movements in Delhi from his exhibition, ‘No Idea Is Final’, just hours ahead of its scheduled opening.
Raihan said the exhibition was scheduled to open at 7 pm on Thursday, but the management first approached him 24 hours earlier and told him that some of the images were against its policy. “I said ‘let me know which ones, let’s have a discussion’,” he said. The next showing is scheduled to take place in Bengaluru next month.
He said he did not hear back from the management until the following day, around noon, when the Deputy Resident Commissioner asked him to remove the photographs, which depicted youth movements in Delhi over the past year.
#WATCH | Delhi: On the Bikaner House Exhibition and photo removal controversy, Raihan Vadra, son of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Robert Vadra, says, “I was there with my team, we were working, and they came; they discussed with us, and we had a back-and-forth. I kept telling them to give me specific reasons, but I wasn’t given any specific reasons, even the notice says, ‘it’s a breach of policy’… I’ve done many shows here, and I have great relationships with everyone who works here. I don’t know if there was any pressure or anything from anywhere else. I know that it was the management here that decided to take that decision…”
He adds, “I don’t know if it’s been done with a political motive. I know that because of the family that I come from, I have the unique opportunity to, as an artist, take a stand… Public institutions like Bikaner House, Travancore Palace, and other big art fairs and public institutions have a responsibility to the ecosystem that holds them up: the artists, the galleries, the curators. Without that, this is just a bunch of restaurants… Those people have to be responsible, and they cannot put a curb on our freedoms of expression on artists, just because it doesn’t suit them. Tomorrow if there are different people in charge here and they remove something, it’s wrong. Any curtailment of freedom of expression and art is wrong…”
On his mother Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra taking a stand her him, he says, “I agree with her. I’m lucky to know that my family has my back.”
— ANI (@ANI) October 22, 2026
“I said that I shared the layout a week earlier. Why didn’t you bring it up earlier? They said we couldn’t see the layout. So I said, you still had one week to tell me you couldn’t see the layout, I would have sent it. We could have had this discussion earlier. Now in four or five hours, what am I going to do?” Raihan said.
He said he asked the management to provide written explanations for removing the photographs but was not given specific reasons. At around 3 pm, the Principal Resident Commissioner also approached him and raised the same concerns, Raihan said. He added that he had already removed most images of political parties and political leaders and was willing to replace any photographs that violated the venue’s policy.
“I told the head of Bikaner House, the principal resident commissioner that your policy says political content. For the most part, I had removed imagery of political parties and of political leaders. Maybe there were a few photographs. I said that we can discuss. If they are against your policy, I’ll replace them. They said no. None of these 70 images will be put up,” he said.
Raihan said the management issued a notice at around 3.30 pm, stating that if the photographs were not removed by 4 pm, the building would be sealed by 5 pm and the exhibition cancelled. He said his team initially turned the framed photographs around so that only the backs of the frames were visible, but the management objected to that arrangement as well. The photographs were subsequently removed and placed in storage.
Raihan also alleged that the management objected to two photographs featuring the Indian national flag. He said he asked for a written explanation for their removal but did not receive one. “I don’t know if there was any pressure or anything from anywhere else. I know that it was the management here that decided to, take that decision,” he added.
Raihan said he was unsure whether the decision had been taken with a political motive, but added that his family background gave him an opportunity to take a stand as an artist. He said public institutions such as Bikaner House along with major art fairs, had a responsibility towards artists, galleries and curators.
“Those people have to be responsible and they cannot put a curb on our freedoms of expression as artists. just because it doesn’t suit them. You know, tomorrow if there are different people in charge here and they remove something, it’s wrong,” he said. “Any curtailment of remunerative expression and art is wrong. any form of censorship is wrong” Raihan added.
Raihan’s mother, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, had earlier sent a subtle message to the government as she backed her son. In a post on X, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, “@raihanrvadra. When someone with power becomes afraid of the expression of another, he doesn’t know it, but he has already lost the very power he is trying to protect. You stand for what is true and everything beautiful will find its way to you. I am proud of you, always will be.”
Her husband Robert Vadra had also shared the post by his son which had alleged that the establishment had asked him to removed photographs of the Delhi Protests from his exhibition. For now, Raihan’s exhibition will continue in a limited manner with it scheduled to be held in Bengaluru next month.
Robert Vadra, husband of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and father of Raihan Vadra, on Thursday expressed pride in his son after the latter’s photography exhibition faced objections at Bikaner House, saying that the family would find another venue to display his work.
Vadra said he was unsure whether Bikaner House’s decision was related to the Rajasthan government or was due to other pressures. He added that his son would not be stopped from showcasing his talent.
#WATCH | Delhi: On the Bikaner House Exhibition and photo removal controversy involving his son Raihan Vadra, Businessman Robert Vadra says, “I’m very proud of my son… he’s a very hardworking person… he puts a lot of effort into doing his exhibition, whatever the subject it may be… It’s very unfortunate… he’s done exhibitions for the last 6-7 years, and Bikaner has been a platform that he’s used many times, and he understands the sensitivities and the protocol. He always provides a PDF file of all the content that will be displayed. The administration at Bikaner House had a whole week to decide if they had any objections to anything… after the invitations and everything, two hours prior to inauguration, the director or the commissioner who’s managing the Bikaner House said, ‘I’m not very comfortable with the pictures that you’re displaying, and you have to remove them’… He said, ‘All 75 on the first floor will be removed’. But he (Raihan) said, ‘But it’s not something that I’m putting up that is going to influence anybody or is going to be like a situation is going to be created… It’s something that has existed for a very long time, and all of this is on social media. It’s the feeling that everybody had… I’ve been in the protest for a very long time, and I see whatever goes on, and this is my expression. If I, as a young person living in India, have my own vision and creativity, it’s not going to be an influence or going to change people’s minds. People’s minds are whatever they are, and that’s why the protests are in place.'”
He adds, “He (Raihan) explained to him and tried to define and argue… he (Raihan) says, ‘Which ones would you like us to remove? Or we could basically turn the pictures around, the ones that you have an issue with’… they had the information a week in advance. They said, ‘No, you’re just going to have to remove this. If you don’t, I will not let you use the premises to have your exhibition’… they didn’t hear him (Raihan)… They had just put a lot of pressure on him that they had to remove all the pictures…. he (Raihan) argued for the two pictures that had the Indian flag, which was very prominent in the pictures… Raihan said, ‘The 70 out of the 75 you can take, the 73, but these two will definitely be there, and that’s what I’m going to fight for.’ I’m proud of him for standing for the Tricolor and the pictures that had the Tricolor… They just wanted all 75 pictures to go…”
— ANI (@ANI) October 22, 2026
Vadra said, “I am very proud of Raihan. He has seen what the whole family goes through and has gone through, and what his father has gone through. So, he is a very strong person, a very strong-headed person. He will find another location, and we will do it at another location.”
“I don’t know whether Bikaner House’s decision is related to the Rajasthan government or what the pressures are, but a young boy cannot be stopped from displaying his talent. So, we will have to find another venue to showcase his talent, and those pictures will be displayed. Nobody will be able to stop us from displaying them anywhere at all,” he said.
Vadra also maintained that the photographs were not controversial and instead reflected Raihan’s perspective and creativity. “The pictures are not controversial in any way. They simply reflect his mindset and his creative side. When he was actually there at the protest, he took those pictures, and they are not controversial in any way. They had been informed about this in advance,” he added.
Vadra said it was “very unfortunate” that Raihan Vadra’s photography exhibition faced objections at Bikaner House despite submitting the required PDF containing all the artworks in advance. He added that the administration had a week to raise any concerns before the exhibition was accepted and invitations were sent to people from the creative industry.
“It is very unfortunate that, after submitting a PDF file as per the protocol, this has happened. He has been doing exhibitions for the last six or seven years, and Bikaner House has been a platform he has used many times. He understands the sensitivities and protocols and always provides a PDF file containing all the content that will be displayed,” he said.
“The administration at Bikaner House had a whole week to decide whether it had any objections to any particular picture or anything like that. But after accepting the exhibition, he invited everyone. He had people who buy his photographs, people who wanted to include them in a catalogue, and people interested in displaying them in their hotels and other places where he supplies and sells his work. People from different parts of the creative world were invited,” Vadra said.
Further, senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot lashed out at the BJP amid a row over Raihan Vadra’s art exhibition, saying that the ruling party has exposed their “insecurities” by silencing expressions. “Silencing expression is what the BJP does best. But in doing so, they have only exposed their own insecurities. A government that fears freedom of speech and expression has forgotten the very essence of democracy. The power of truth and courage will always prevail,” Pilot posted on X.
Moreover, Congress leader Pawan Khera said that the government would rather censor reality than confront it since it has become afraid of “inconvenient truths”. “The government has become so afraid of inconvenient truths that it would rather censor reality than confront it. Articles, photographs, artworks, books — anything that challenges its carefully manufactured narrative is silenced,” Khera posted on X.
He added that censorship can’t make reality disappear. “The irony is that every attempt to suppress an idea only draws more attention to what the government is so desperate to hide. Censorship cannot make reality disappear; it only exposes a regime terrified of what people might see,” Khera said. (ANI)
