New Delhi : The ruling BJP has claimed that all is not well within the Congress the country’s main opposition party and that a rift has emerged. On Friday (October 23), BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari alleged that a “brother versus sister” battle is underway within the Congress specifically, an internal conflict between Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The BJP spokesperson based this claim on the silence of the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, regarding the controversy surrounding the removal of photographs from an exhibition by Rehan Vadra at Bikaner House. Furthermore, Pradeep Bhandari questioned whether Priyanka has lost faith in her brother. He alleged that Priyanka is attempting to “soft-launch” her son, Rehan Vadra, by orchestrating a controversy.

Notably, Rahul Gandhi who has been on a private visit to Vietnam since last Sunday has yet to comment on this issue. The BJP spokesperson has presented this as evidence of friction between the Gandhi siblings. However, only a few days earlier, Rahul and Priyanka had jointly led a strong protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar, raising concerns over alleged irregularities in the electoral rolls (SIR).

On Friday, Bhandari tweeted on the social media platform X: “Priyanka Vadra’s entire effort was aimed at ‘soft-launching’ her son by creating a controversy. She has lost political faith in Rahul Gandhi!” He further added, “Rahul Gandhi, who has been tweeting on every other issue from Vietnam, has not posted a single tweet in support of Rehan Vadra. It is Priyanka versus Rahul within the Congress!” Earlier, BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari termed the allegations leveled by Priyanka Gandhi against the officials of Bikaner House as “fake.”

A photo exhibition by Rehan Vadra son of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Robert Vadra, and an artist and photographer by profession was organized at Bikaner House in New Delhi, which is run and controlled by the Rajasthan government, starting Thursday (October 22). A day earlier, on Wednesday, Rehan Vadra alleged that the Bikaner House management had removed 74 of his 105 photographs from the exhibition. Most of the removed photographs were related to recent student protests in Delhi. This development sparked a controversy. In response, Bikaner House stated that the photographs were “not in line” with their policy.

Describing the move by Bikaner House as “absurd,” Priyanka Gandhi accused the officials of suppressing the voices of the youth. She remarked, “It happened to him today; tomorrow it could happen to another artist.” Hitting back at this allegation, Pradeep Bhandari stated in a video message posted on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), “Priyanka-ji, there are other ways to launch your son into politics, but please, at the very least, stop lying under the guise of the Tricolor.” He added, “Bikaner House has a policy which clearly states that no political content can be displayed in any exhibition, and such material must be removed immediately.”

Bhandari suggested that Priyanka Gandhi’s reaction to this issue points to an ongoing political struggle between her and Rahul Gandhi. He questioned, “Has Priyanka Gandhi lost faith in Rahul Gandhi? Is she attempting to launch Rehan Vadra into politics by peddling lies regarding Bikaner House?” Bhandari further advised Priyanka to explore other avenues for introducing her son into the political arena. Meanwhile, another BJP spokesperson, Gaurav Bhatia, also targeted the Congress, stating, “Priyanka’s mission now is to launch Rehan Vadra into politics, because Sonia Gandhi failed to establish Rahul Gandhi in politics. Rahul has led the Congress to defeat in 99 elections.”

Report : Abhijit Tushar Bhatt (Political Editor)

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