By 7 pm, when No Idea Is Final opened to visitors, several walls were bare, with empty spaces and nails marking where the photographs had hung.
A catalogue displaying the removed works offered visitors a glimpse of what the exhibition was originally intended to showcase.
“They made us take them down. We spoke to them, but they threatened that they would cancel the show if we didn’t take them down. So, there wasn’t much of an option left,” Vadra, 26, told ThePrint in an exclusive interview.
‘Too political’: Artist questions last-minute decision
Vadra, the son of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and businessman Robert Vadra, and nephew of Rahul Gandhi, said the exhibition proposal had been approved on June 30 last year.
He added that the venue had received the exhibition layout a week before the opening but had not raised any objections until the final hours.
According to Vadra, Bikaner House management objected to photographs documenting youth movements and protests held in Delhi over the preceding six months, citing their political nature and the timing of the exhibition.
“I thought, as an artist, it was my duty to document and display those images,” he said, adding that he had already removed overt political messaging from the photographs.
Vadra claimed the venue told him that the images were inappropriate given the prevailing political circumstances and suggested that they could be displayed at a later date.
There other ways of launching your son Priyanka Ji. Guidelines of Bikaner House clearly say: Artwork should not contain political content! Country is governed by rule of law, not rule of Parivar! https://t.co/I6AoMzrf9G
— Pradeep Bhandari(प्रदीप भंडारी)🇮🇳 (@pradip103) October 22, 2026
He also questioned why the objections had surfaced so late, arguing that an earlier warning would have given him time to reconsider the arrangement.
75 photographs removed before opening
The photographer said Bikaner House management first contacted him on Tuesday evening, with the dispute escalating on Wednesday as the exhibition’s opening approached.
Vadra alleged that Rohit Kumar, the Principal Resident Commissioner of Bikaner House, inspected the exhibition rooms and instructed him to remove all works considered political by 3.30 pm.
Photo: Instagram/Raihan Vadra
He further claimed that Kumar contacted the Rajasthan Chief Secretary and an official at the Chief Minister’s Office before conveying the decision.
Vadra and his team began taking down the photographs, initially replacing them with blank frames. However, he said the venue subsequently directed them to remove the frames as well.
Even two photographs featuring the Indian national flag reportedly came under scrutiny.
Vadra said he initially resisted removing them but eventually complied to ensure that the exhibition could continue until October 25.
#WATCH | Delhi: On the Bikaner House Exhibition and photo removal controversy, Raihan Vadra, son of Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Robert Vadra, says, "Yesterday, my show was supposed to open at 7 pm. The show was called 'No Idea is Fine'. 24 hours before it was to open, I was first approached by the Bikaner House management and told that some of the images are against their policy. I said, 'Let me know which ones; let's have a discussion. I didn't hear back from them till the next day... when the Deputy Resident Commissioner reached out and said that we have to remove all these images, which were street photography images of the youth movements in Delhi over the last year. I said, '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 1 week to tell me you couldn't see the layout. I would have sent it; we could have had the discussion earlier. Now, in 4-5 hours, what am I going to do?' I asked them to give it to me in writing as to why they are removing these photographs, individual reasons; they didn't. Then at 3 pm, the head of Bikaner House, the principal resident commissioner, came, and he also said the same thing. I also said the same thing to him. He said, '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, 'We could discuss. If they are against your policy, I'll replace them.' He said, "No, none of these 70 images will be put up.' They sent me a notice at 3.30 saying, 'If you don't remove it by 5 PM, the building is sealed, and the exhibition is canceled.' Then we complied. We flipped the photographs. So you could only see the back of the frame. They had a problem with that. We took those down, piled them up on the side. They had a problem with that. We put them in storage. I left two photos of the Indian flag, and they said, 'Take it down.' I said, 'This can't be against your policy. How can it be against your policy?' I said, 'Give it to me in writing that you want me to take down a picture of the Indian flag.' They didn't. So those were there, and then I went home to change. They took one down themselves. So one is remaining, if you had seen it."
— ANI (@ANI) October 22, 2026
‘All art is political’, says Vadra
Vadra said the photographs were intended as visual documentation of protests rather than political commentary. A press note issued before the exhibition described the images as documentation of protesters and security personnel, without additional commentary.
“Now, I believe that all art is political and timing has nothing to do with it,” he said, questioning whether an art space could exclude political works altogether.
He also pointed to a political installation displayed at Bikaner House in September last year, saying he had raised the example while discussing the venue’s objections.
.@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
The photographer maintained that his family background should not define the purpose of his work.
“I am from a political family, but I am not a political person, you know, whatever that means. The whole point was that I was documenting the protests,” he said.
Wildlife photography remains on display
Despite the removal of the protest photographs, Vadra’s wildlife images and abstract works remain part of No Idea Is Final.
The removed photographs included images of police personnel detaining demonstrators during protests over alleged irregularities in the NEET examination and demonstrations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Another photograph reportedly featured his uncle amid the unrest.
Visitors can view a catalogue of the photographs that were originally intended for the exhibition, even though the images themselves are no longer displayed on the walls.
Vadra plans to show removed works elsewhere
Vadra said the decision to remove the photographs was not the end of the project. He has begun looking for another venue in Delhi where the works can be exhibited in their entirety.
The exhibition is also scheduled to travel to Bengaluru in December, where he plans to display the photographs.
“Putting these shows together takes a lot of hard work and time,” he said, adding that he would seek a more suitable venue for the removed works.
For now, the empty walls at Bikaner House stand in contrast to the exhibition’s original vision, while the catalogue preserves a record of the photographs that were meant to be seen.