NEW DELHI: Artist and photographer Raihan Vadra, son of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and businessman Robert Vadra, has alleged that the Bikaner House administration removed several photographs documenting recent protests and youth movements in India, just hours before the opening of his solo exhibition.Titled No Idea is Final, the exhibition was previewed on Wednesday and is scheduled to open on Thursday.Speaking to news agency PTI, Raihan said the administration gave him a deadline to remove the photographs, warning that the exhibition would otherwise be cancelled.“They told us at 3.30 pm today if the images are not taken down by 5 pm, the show will be cancelled. They said it is not the right time for such photos to be shown,” he said.Raihan also alleged that an image of the national flag was taken down by the administration, but he subsequently put it back.In a statement shared with PTI, Raihan said the exhibition featured a mix of wildlife photography, abstract works and street photography documenting recent youth movements in India.He said the Bikaner House management had first contacted him at 6 pm on Tuesday, raising objections to what it described as the “political nature” of the protest photographs and asking him to remove them.Raihan objected to the timing of the request, saying he had shared the exhibition’s detailed proposal and layout with the management well in advance.“I made it clear that in view of the fact that I had shared the detailed proposal and layout of the show well in advance with the Bikaner House management it was incorrect on their part to request the removal of 50% of the artworks less than 24 hours before the opening,” he said.The Bikaner House administration was not immediately available for comment on the allegations.
