Thiruvananthapuram | BJP Keralam president Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Friday questioned Chief Minister V D Satheesan's offer to host a photo exhibition by Raihan Vadra, son of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, alleging "preferential treatment".
In a social media post, Chandrasekhar said the chief minister's offer came at a time when youth in the state were being subjected to police action for protesting peacefully.
"I have no problems with the CM inviting any exhibition to Keralam, even Wayanad MP's (Priyanka Gandhi) son. But what is wrong is the preferential treatment to this youngster, even as other real Malayalee youth are teargassed, gas grenaded, violently assaulted by police at CM's instructions when they peacefully protest," the former union minister charged.
Questioning the Congress leadership, including Rahul Gandhi and Satheesan, the BJP leader asked whether democracy and rights mattered only when it came to a political family's members.
He also raised concerns over unemployment, "political corruption" and the alleged forced marriage of an underage Muslim girl in violation of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
"This is what is so egregious about @Rahul Gandhi's politics. This is why I say that he is a fraud and his entire politics is built on dishonesty, lies, corruption, anarchy and fraud," Chandrasekhar said.
The BJP state chief's remarks came a day after Satheesan offered to host Raihan Vadra's exhibition in Keralam amid a controversy over the removal of some photographs depicting protests in Delhi from his solo exhibition at Bikaner House.
Raihan, an artist and photographer, had alleged on Wednesday that the Bikaner House administration in Delhi pulled down several photographs from his exhibition, "No Idea Is Final", documenting protests over the past six months.
He claimed that the administration had warned him that the exhibition could be cancelled if he did not remove the photographs by 5 pm on Wednesday.
Raihan said he had shared the exhibition proposal and layout with the Bikaner House management well in advance and maintained that the photographs did not carry any political message.
Subsequently, Satheesan had invited Raihan to Keralam.
"Keralam 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 on Thursday, tagging Raihan Vadra and Priyanka Gandhi.
Priyanka Gandhi had strongly criticised the reported removal of the photographs, saying those in power who feared artistic expression ended up losing the very power they sought to protect.
A Bikaner House official had said the administration was "not authorised to comment" on the matter, while the BJP termed the allegations as "fake news".
BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari on Thursday said Bikaner House policy did not permit the display of political content and asked Priyanka Gandhi to find another way to "launch" her son into politics.
