The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday accused Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of attempting to give her son, artist Raihan Vadra, a political launch through his art exhibition in New Delhi. The party claimed that political photographs were added to the exhibition proposal after it had received approval from Bikaner House in June.
BJP national spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari alleged that Raihan’s original proposal focused on nature, wildlife, artwork and sculpture, without any political content. He claimed that the subsequent inclusion of political photographs was an attempt by the Congress leader to create a controversy and introduce her son into politics.
“Under pressure of his family for a political launch, the political photographs were inserted later on to which Bikaner House reverted asking for removal on 21st October 2026! Priyanka Vadra's entire attempt was to soft launch her son by manufacturing a controversy. She has lost political faith in Rahul Gandhi!,” Bhandari said in a tweet.
Bhandari also shared purported screenshots of an exchange between Raihan and Bikaner House. Congress had not responded to the allegations at the time of writing.
BJP claims political photographs were added later
Bhandari said the exhibition had initially been approved because its proposal did not include political imagery. He also alleged that Priyanka Gandhi had lost faith in her brother, Rahul Gandhi, claiming that the Congress leader had not publicly supported Raihan’s exhibition.
“Priyanka Vadra's entire attempt was to soft launch her son by manufacturing a controversy. She has lost political faith in Rahul Gandhi! Rahul Gandhi who from Vietnam is tweeting on every issue under the son, has till now not openly done a single tweet in favor of Rehan Vadra. Its Priyanka vs Rahul in Congress!," Bhandari wrote.
Raihan alleges 50 per cent of photographs were flagged
The BJP's claims came after Raihan alleged on Wednesday that Bikaner House management had asked him to remove around 50 per cent of his photographs depicting student-led protests in the national capital. He also claimed that two photographs featuring the Indian national flag had been objected to, but said he refused to remove them.
Raihan maintained that the proposal approved on June 30, 2026, described the exhibition as featuring “themes of choice, control, and unity”.
“The photos are simply a visual documentation of the people and the armed forces at the protests with no added commentary. Not a single photograph taken by me contains any derogatory or inflammatory comment of any kind,” he said.