‘Mixing Politics with Creative World’: Raihan Vadra Row Brings Art and Political Power into Focus
Robert Vadra has criticised the last-minute objection to his son Raihan Vadra’s photography exhibition at Bikaner House in Delhi, saying politics should not be mixed with the creative world.
Robert Vadra, father of Raihan Vadra and husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, said on Thursday that the Bikaner House authorities had already been informed about his son's work, which documented youth-led street protests in Delhi over the past year. However, the objection was raised only a few hours before the exhibition opened. He said that if people believed in democracy, there was no point in mixing politics with the creative world.
“There was a lot of pressure on him to remove everything, and this happened just two hours before the opening of his exhibition. It was shocking because the authorities had received the PDF file a week in advance and had been informed about the exhibition. Setting up an exhibition takes two days, and the authorities had visited the venue, seen the displays and raised no objections. However, just a few hours before the opening, the situation changed without any explanation,” Vadra said.
When Raihan was asked to remove several photographs, he initially refused but later agreed to avoid the complete cancellation of the exhibition. Reacting to this, Robert Vadra said, “Despite this, I think he was brave enough to go ahead with the exhibition using whatever remained. As I said, I am proud of him. Everyone who had been invited attended the exhibition because this is also his profession. Bikaner House comes under the Rajasthan government, and I can only say that if we believe in democracy, there is no point in mixing politics with the creative world. Everyone should be allowed to express themselves.”
VIDEO | Delhi: Artist and photographer Raihan Vadra, the son of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Robert Vadra, said the Bikaner House administration pulled down many of his pictures of the recent Delhi protests ahead of a solo exhibition. Robert Vadra says, “There was a lot of pressure on him to remove everything, and this happened just two hours before the opening of his exhibition. It was shocking because the authorities had received the PDF file a week in advance and had been informed about the exhibition. Setting up an exhibition takes two days, and the authorities had visited the venue, seen the displays, and raised no objections. However, just a few hours before the opening, the situation changed without any explanation…Despite this, I think he was brave enough to go ahead with the exhibition using whatever remained. As I said, I am proud of him. Everyone who had been invited attended the exhibition because this is also his profession…Bikaner House comes under the Rajasthan government, and I can only say that if we believe in democracy, there is no point in mixing politics with the creative world. Everyone should be allowed to express themselves.” (Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/bIyFWTfmBd)
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 22, 2026
Bikaner House Says Photographs Violated Its Policy
In an official statement, the Bikaner House Management Society said that some of Raihan Vadra's works were inconsistent with its policy, warranting their removal.
“Certain photographs displayed as part of Mr Raihan Vadra’s exhibition, ‘No Idea Is Final’, at Bikaner House were found to be inconsistent with the policy of the Bikaner House Management Society. Accordingly, their removal was requested,” the society said.
“The photographs that are consistent with the Society's policy have continued to be displayed,” it added.
74-75 Photographs Flagged Ahead of Exhibition Opening
Raihan Vadra was scheduled to display 105 photographs at his exhibition, titled No Idea Is Final, on Wednesday. On Tuesday, he was contacted by the Bikaner House official regarding his work being politically sensitive. Though Vadra mainatined that the art was not against their policy, he had to pull down 74 to 75 photographs.
He was later asked to remove two images of 'Tiranga,' which he refused to follow. "At that point, I firmly told them to put their demand in writing if they wanted me to remove the photographs of the Indian flag. They did not send me anything in writing. They left one photograph in place, but while I was at home changing for the opening, they removed the other photograph of the Indian flag themselves. I have a video of them doing that.”
VIDEO | PTI Exclusive: Artist and photographer Raihan Vadra, the son of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Robert Vadra, on Thursday said the Bikaner House administration pulled down many of his pictures of the recent Delhi protests ahead of a solo exhibition. Raihan Vadra says, “My show, ‘No Idea Is Final’, was supposed to start at 7PM yesterday at Bikaner House. Twenty-four hours before the opening, I was approached by the Bikaner House management and told that some of the pictures might be objectionable or against their policy. I said that I did not believe they were, but I was happy to discuss the matter and asked them to get back to me in writing, explaining what the concerns were…Then, at around 12.30 pm, we received a call from the Deputy Resident Commissioner saying that I had to remove 70 of the 105 photographs in the exhibition because they were allegedly against the policy… After all, it was their venue. In any case, after reviewing their policy, I had already set aside and removed images that contained overtly political slogans… He explained that the context of the protests and everything happening in Delhi was what made the artwork political, and that I had to remove the photographs… Once we had removed them, the officials came back to inspect the exhibition and said that the arrangement still did not work. They sent me an email saying that I had to remove some more photographs as well. So I took them down, and they told me to leave them aside… Afterwards, they came back and said that I had to remove the two photographs of the Indian flag as well. I said, ‘But they are just pictures of the Indian flag. I do not think there is anything in your policy that says photographs of the Indian flag have to be removed’. At that point, I firmly told them to put their demand in writing if they wanted me to remove the photographs of the Indian flag. They did not send me anything in writing. They left one photograph in place, but while I was at home changing for the opening, they removed the other photograph of the Indian flag themselves. I have a video of them doing that.” (Full video available on PTI Videos - https://t.co/bIyFWTfmBd)
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 22, 2026
Initially, Raihan's team reportedly replaced the photographs with blank frames to protest against the last-minute order. However, the blank frames were eventually removed as well.
Priyanka Gandhi Calls Incident an Attempt to Suppress Youth Voices
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra described the incident as an attempt to suppress the voices of young people. “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,” Priyanka said, taking a veiled swipe at the Narendra Modi-led central government.
.@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. ❤️ mama
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) October 22, 2026
“You stand for what is true and everything beautiful will find its way to you. I am proud of you, always will be,” Priyanka said in her message to her son, Raihan.