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Keralam BJP president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday questioned the "preferential treatment" given by Chief Minister VD Satheesan in allowing Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi's son Raihan Vadra to hold an art exhibition in the name of democratic rights.
He noted that while the CM has the authority to invite anyone, it is concerning that he resorts to force against citizens protesting for their rights. "I think the Chief Minister and the Government of Keralam are well within their right to invite anybody here to come and exhibit their art or not art or whatever it is. But there are two questions that arise from it. One is: how come, in the name of democracy, in the name of democratic rights, the Wayanad MP's son is given this privilege? And on the other hand, peaceful protesters are tear-gassed and stunned by the police. So my own view is, and this is something that people should pose a question to VD Satheesan, Chandrasekhar told ANI. Chandrasekhar also alleged that recent protests planned on social media and subsequently held on the ground bore the hallmarks of externally sponsored influence operations. The BJP leader alleged that the protests were being deliberately stoked and cited Bangladesh and France as examples, while claiming that similar attempts had been made in India. All this is being deliberately stoked. We saw this in Bangladesh and France. We saw an attempt in India. But the difference here is, in India, there is a collective resolve of 140 crore Indians not to allow our democracy to be compromised by, dismantled by, or impacted by this kind of anarchy and chaos, Chandrasekhar said. The remarks came after Satheesan expressed support for hosting Raihan Vadra's photography exhibition, No Idea Is Final, in Keralam following a dispute over the display of photographs at Bikaner House in New Delhi. "Kerala would be happy and proud to host Raihan Vadra's No Idea Is Final exhibition in its entirety. No exclusions, no exceptions," Satheesan said in a post on X. The controversy erupted after Raihan alleged that Bikaner House management had asked him to remove several photographs depicting student protests and other demonstrations shortly before the exhibition's scheduled opening. He also claimed that two photographs of the Indian national flag were among those targeted. The Bikaner House Management Society maintained that certain photographs were inconsistent with its venue policy and that their removal had been requested. (ANI)
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