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Raghav Chadha vs AAP: Rift between 'ghatak' MP and Kejriwal's 'soldiers' turns ugly -- the showdown explained

NEW DELHI: Days after the Aam Aadmi Party removed its Rajya Sabha deputy leader Raghav Chadha, accusing him of shying away from speaking out against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and engaging in "soft PR", the sidelined MP once again hit back on Saturday, saying, "ghayal hoon isiliye ghatak hoon," quoting a popular dialogue from the film Dhurandhar 2.Among the youngest MPs in the country and once seen as a close confidant of Arvind Kejriwal and a key strategist behind the AAP's 2022 Punjab victory, Raghav Chadha's journey within the party has taken a dramatic turn. However, over the past year, cracks began to emerge.Breaking his silence after the action against him, Chadha upped the ante against his party, rejecting the allegations leveled against him by his own party colleagues. In a strongly worded video message on X, he dismissed the charges as "baseless and part of a larger, coordinated attempt to discredit him.""All these lies will be unmasked. Kyunki mai ghayal hoon isiliye ghatak hoon," he said, invoking a popular film dialogue to signal both injury and intent.Chadha made it clear that he had initially chosen restraint but felt compeled to respond as repeated accusations risked being accepted as truth. He also released multiple videos under the title "Three Allegations. Zero Truth", directly countering claims made by party leaders.Earlier on Friday in another pointed message on X, Chadha framed the episode as an attempt to suppress his voice rather than address differences. "Meri Khamoshi Ko Meri Haar Mat Samajh Lena, Main wo Dariya Hun Jo Waqt Aane Par Sailab Banta hai," he said, warning that his silence should not be mistaken for defeat.He also revealed that the party had informed the Rajya Sabha secretariat not to allocate him speaking time, a move he suggested was aimed at marginalising him within Parliament. "Did I commit any crime? AAP has informed Parliament that I should not be given a chance to speak," he said.His response came a day after the party leadership has accused Chadha of diluting its political stance in Parliament. Senior leaders alleged that instead of aggressively targeting the Centre and PM Modi, Chadha engaged in what they termed "soft PR".Earlier on Friday, Senior party leaders alleged that Chadha had been reluctant to raise issues aligned with the party's stand. They pointed to his refusal to sign the notice seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and his failure to join Opposition walkouts on key issues in the House. Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, Rajya Sabha leader Sanjay Singh, Delhi leader Atishi and state unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj were among those who accused him of deviating from the party line.When asked whether Chadha was "compromised", Mann replied in the affirmative. He criticised the MP for raising issues such as the price of samosas at airports instead of what the party considers core political concerns. "If the party gives a line to raise specific issues, such as valid votes being deleted (in West Bengal), 160 AAP leaders and volunteers being booked in Gujarat, or Punjab's issues, like attempts to polarise communities, MSP, Centre holding back GST funds or rural development fund, but someone raises issues of samosas at airports or pizza delivery time, won't it raise doubts that he is talking from a different station?" Mann said.The criticism escalated with party leaders also taking a swipe at Chadha using the phrase "Jo Dar Gaya Samjho Mar Gaya", amid the intensifying row over his removal as deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha. Bharadwaj alleged that Chadha repeatedly failed to toe the party line in Parliament and did not participate in Opposition walkouts. He also accused him of not adequately raising issues concerning Punjab, the state he represents, and of remaining absent during critical moments, including the arrest of AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal."All party leaders are soldiers of Kejriwal," Bharadwaj said, stressing the need for discipline and unity. He further alleged that at a time when critics of the government were facing crackdowns, including FIRs and social media restrictions, raising relatively minor issues in Parliament amounted to misplaced priorities. "Whenever the Opposition staged a walkout in Parliament, you did not participate. You did not raise issues concerning Punjab... and you hid in a foreign country when Arvind Kejriwal was arrested," he added.Sanjay Singh also questioned Chadha's silence on several key issues, including LPG prices, alleged manipulation of votes in West Bengal, and what he described as attacks on Punjab's rights and AAP workers in Gujarat. Atishi, referring to Kejriwal's arrest in March 2024, said that while party leaders were on the streets protesting, Chadha's absence raised serious questions. "We defended you then... But today, even I want to ask, when Kejriwal was arrested, were you scared of the BJP and therefore ran away to London out of fear?" she said.AAP leader Anurag Dhanda said, "In Gujarat, our hundreds of workers have been arrested... In West Bengal, the right to vote is being snatched away... For the past few years, you've been scared, Raghav. You hesitate to speak against Modi. You hesitate to speak on the real issues of the country."Chadha categorically denied these allegations in the videos posted, calling them "white lies" and challenging the party to provide evidence. "The first allegation they put against me was that I did not walk out with the opposition. This is a white lie, and I challenge you to give me one example, one incident, where the opposition walked out and I didn't support them," he said, adding, "There are CCTV cameras everywhere in the parliament. Show me footage and it will become clear."On the issue of the motion against the Chief Election Commissioner, Chadha maintained that no party leader had asked him formally or informally to sign it. He questioned why he was being singled out when several other MPs had also not signed the motion, noting that the Opposition had more than enough members to meet the required number of signatures.Perhaps the sharpest ideological divergence came in Chadha's articulation of his role as a parliamentarian. He rejected the idea that effectiveness in Parliament is measured by disruption. "I did not go to Parliament to create ruckus, scream, break the mic or abuse. I went there to raise problems of people," he said.He emphasised that his focus has consistently been on substantive public issues, including Punjab's water crisis, air pollution in Delhi, the condition of government schools, railway passenger problems, GST and income tax burdens, public healthcare, education, menstrual health, unemployment and inflation. Stressing accountability, he added, "I go to Parliament to create impact not ruckus," noting that Parliament runs on taxpayers' money and must serve their concerns.The controversy has drawn reactions from political opponents as well. Bharatiya Janata Party came out in support of Chadha, using the episode to criticise AAP's internal functioning. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said that a senior MP being forced to use social media to voice concerns indicated a breakdown of dialogue within the party."When a senior MP is forced to use social media to express his views within his own party, it reflects a deeply troubling internal condition," he said.The slugfest was triggered after Raghav Chadha, was removed as deputy leader of the Aam Aadmi Party in the Upper House on Thursday. What had been an internal rift simmering for nearly a year finally spilled into the open, with the party effectively "demoting" Chadha and replacing him with Ashok Mittal.However, the sharper blow came not just from his removal but from the party's reported communication to the Rajya Sabha secretariat that Chadha should no longer be allotted speaking time from its official quota -- a move widely seen as an attempt to sideline him further.Soon after, Chadha posted a cryptic response on X, sharing video highlights of his speeches in the Upper House along with a "nazar" (evil eye) amulet emoji, without offering any direct comment.The move comes against the backdrop of Chadha's prolonged silence on party matters and his absence from several key public events led by Arvind Kejriwal. The cracks, party insiders suggest, have been widening for nearly two years rather than emerging suddenly.A major source of unease within the party has been Chadha's absence during critical moments. While leaders such as Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia faced legal troubles and jail terms, Chadha's absence from key press conferences and protest sites drew scrutiny.He was abroad for medical reasons when Kejriwal was arrested in the excise policy case in March 2024 and remained away during his nearly six-month incarceration, meeting him only days after his release on September 13, 2024. More recently, Chadha maintained silence even after Kejriwal, Sisodia and other AAP leaders were discharged by a Delhi court in the same case, and he also skipped Kejriwal's press conference and a rally at Jantar Mantar following the relief.The AAP currently has 10 members in the Rajya Sabha, including seven from Punjab and three from Delhi, making the internal rift all the more significant for the party's parliamentary strategy.Chadha now becomes the second Rajya Sabha MP after Swati Maliwal to fall out with the party leadership, pointing to a broader pattern of internal tensions.

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