The Aam Aadmi Party was focusing on “serious” national problems plaguing the country, rather than the “soft” matters discussed by MP Raghav Chadha, said the party’s Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj on Friday.
His statement came soon after Chadha alleged that the AAP was “silencing” him. “Whenever I get the opportunity to speak in Parliament, I raise problems faced by the citizens,” he said in a video posted on social media. “Have I committed any crime by doing this?”
Chadha posted the video a day after the AAP wrote to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat seeking his removal as the party’s deputy leader in the Upper House. The party recommended MP Ashok Mittal as his replacement.
The move came against the backdrop of Chadha’s absence from recent party activities. He had not publicly reacted after a Delhi court in February cleared former Chief Minister and party chief Arvind Kejriwal, and former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and 21 others in the Delhi excise policy case.
On Friday, Chadha said: “Those who have today snatched my right to speak in the Parliament, I want to tell them: ‘Do not consider my silence as my defeat’.”
Soon after, Bharadwaj posted a video on social media, alleging that the Union government was employing corrupt methods to win elections.
“In Bengal, the Opposition brought a motion to impeach the chief election commissioner,” said the AAP leader. “But you [Chadha] refused to sign it.”
“For a long time, you have failed to raise matters questioning the prime minister or the Bharatiya Janata Party government,” Bharadwaj said in the video addressed to Chadha. “How will you remain in politics if you are scared?”
Bharadwaj also accused Chadha of going into “hiding” when Arvind Kejriwal was arrested “on false charges” during his tenure as the Delhi chief minister.
“I believe we need to raise matters important to the country and courageously fight the BJP,” said the AAP leader. “They do not care about your soft issues, rather they are supporting you on social media. Think about it.”
His party colleague Atishi, who had taken over as the Delhi chief minister months into Kejriwal’s imprisonment, also questioned Chadha for not protesting against the BJP.
“Are you scared of BJP and Narendra Modi that you don’t question them?” she asked in a video posted on social media.
She said that the shortage of liquified petroleum gas was the biggest problem in the country now. When Chadha was asked to raise the matter on behalf of the Opposition in the Parliament, he refused, Atishi alleged.
“Maybe you are scared of Narendra Modi and going to jail, but we are the soldiers of Kejriwal, and are not scared,” she added.
Chadha, 37, is a member of the party’s Political Affairs Committee, its highest decision-making body, and has also served as its national treasurer. He has played a role in coordinating the opposition INDIA bloc and is currently the party’s Punjab co-incharge.
He entered the Rajya Sabha after being elevated during his tenure as a Delhi MLA, becoming one of the youngest members of the Upper House. In 2023, he was appointed the party’s leader in the Rajya Sabha, replacing Sanjay Singh.
The Aam Aadmi Party currently has 10 members in the Rajya Sabha, including seven from Punjab and three from Delhi.
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