A day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) removed one of its most prominent faces, Raghav Chadha, from the post of deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, on Friday the so-far hidden differences within the Arvind Kejriwal-led party spilled out in the open. While Chadha warned that his silence should not be mistaken for defeat, party colleague Saurabh Bhardwaj accused him of raising “soft, public relations-type” issues in Parliament instead of confronting the BJP-led Centre on issues that matter, telling him “jo dar gaya woh mar gaya”.
In his first public reaction after being dropped, Chadha questioned whether raising public interest issues in Parliament was a “crime”. “Have I done something wrong,” he asked in a video posted on X. “Whenever I got a chance to speak in Parliament, I raised public issues — topics that others do not raise. But is raising public issues a crime? Have I made a mistake?…I am asking this because the Aam Aadmi Party told the RS secretariat to stop Raghav Chadha from speaking in Parliament.”
Then, in what sounded like a veiled warning to the party leadership, Chadha said: “Meri khamoshi ko meri haar mat samajhna; main woh dariya hoon jo waqt aane par sailaab banta hai,” basically saying do not mistake my silence for defeat, I have the power or capacity to retaliate when the moment demands..
Bhardwaj, in turn, responded with a video message captioned “Jo dar gaya, samjho mar gaya”
“Raghav bhai, we saw your video. We are all soldiers of Arvind Kejriwal. The government is banning accounts of those raising their voice and filing cases against them. It does not bother about soft PR in Parliament, especially since smaller parties get limited time to speak,” he said
Taking a dig at one of Chadha’s speeches in the Rajya Sabha regarding samosa-and-chai prices at the airport, he said, “Rather than talking about samosa it is important to raise bigger issues.”
He also accused Chadha of avoiding key political confrontations, including not signing an impeachment motion brought by Opposition parties and not participating in walkouts. “You have never raised issues against the Prime Minister or the BJP government. You remained silent when AAP workers were arrested in Gujarat. When Arvind Kejriwal was jailed, you were not even in the country,” he said, telling Chadha to reflect on his political journey. “You need to reflect on where your journey started and where it is right now.”
Amid speculation about Chadha’s future, there has been a buzz about him shifting to the BJP ahead of Punjab elections, Congress, too, is being mentioned as a potential option. Congress leader Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said Chadha’s removal indicated he had been sidelined. “It is now clear that Raghav Chadha is separate from AAP. Public perception is that he may leave the party and join elsewhere,” he said.
Coming as it does ahead of elections in Punjab, where Chadha played a key role and served as an advisor to Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, AAP’s changing political dynamics have fuelled multiple speculations.
Apart from Chadha, Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal has also fallen out of favour with the party leadership. Though she remains an AAP MP, she has effectively been functioning as an independent critic of the party’s leadership.