Rahul Gandhi's nephew says he was forced to remove protest artwork from Delhi exhibition

Business Recorder · 22/10/2026، 11:40:36 AM

NEW DELHI: The nephew of Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi said he was forced to remove several pieces of art documenting youth protests from his exhibition at a government-run cultural centre in New Delhi this week, as they were deemed “objectionable.” Raihan Vadra, 26, the son of Gandhi’s sister, lawmaker Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, said the management at Bikaner House forced him to remove the artwork just hours before his exhibition opened on Wednesday. Youth protests, led by the Cockroach Janta Party, have emerged as a major challenge to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. A weeks-long sit-in forced the resignation of his education minister in July over exam paper leaks. India detains protesters, locks down Delhi ahead of rally against election chief Demonstrations erupted again this month, with opposition groups led by Gandhi at the forefront, that sought the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over a controversial revision of voter lists. “The photos were of the youth protests in Delhi,” Vadra said in a post on social media. “Apparently the content is objectionable.” He was also directed to remove two photographs of the Indian flag but he refused, he said. The Bikaner House Management Society said it had requested the removal of “certain photographs” from the exhibition that were inconsistent with its policies, without elaborating. “The photographs that are consistent with the society’s policy have been continued to be displayed,” it said in a statement on Thursday. Bikaner House is owned by the western state of Rajasthan, which is ruled by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. India deploys thousands of police ahead of election protest Vadra’s exhibition, titled “No Idea is Final,” is listed on Bikaner House’s website, which describes it as a display of “photographs, multimedia artworks and installations” focused on themes including “nature, wildlife, abstract artworks, portraits, sculptures and immersive installations.” “When someone with