New Delhi: After a few days, Aam Aadmi Party removed its Rajya Sabha deputy leader. Raghav ChaddhaThe MP, who was sidelined after being accused of shying away from speaking against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and indulging in ‘soft PR’, on Saturday once again hit back by quoting a popular dialogue from the film Dhurandhar 2, saying, ‘I am injured, therefore I am fatal’.One of the country’s youngest MPs and once seen as his close confidant Arvind Kejriwal And the journey within the party of Raghav Chadha, a key strategist behind AAP’s 2022 Punjab victory, has taken a dramatic turn. However, in the last year, cracks began to emerge.
‘I am injured, that is why I am deadly’
Breaking his silence after the action against him, Chadha opened a front against his party, rejecting the allegations leveled against him by his own party colleagues. In a strongly worded video message on Twitter, he dismissed the allegations as “baseless and part of a larger, coordinated effort to discredit him.”“All these lies will be exposed. Because I am wounded I am deadly,” he said, referring to a popular movie dialogue to indicate both injury and intent.Chadha clarified that he had initially decided to exercise restraint, but was forced to respond due to the risk of repeated allegations being accepted as truth. He also released several videos under the title “Three allegations. Zero truth” directly refuting the claims made by party leaders.
‘I am silent, not defeated’
In a more candid message on X earlier on Friday, Chadha framed the episode as an attempt to suppress her voice rather than address differences. “Don’t take my silence as my defeat, I am a river which turns into flood when the time comes,” he said, warning that his silence should not be taken as defeat.He also revealed that the party had informed the Rajya Sabha Secretariat not to allot him time to speak, a move he suggested was aimed at marginalizing him within Parliament. He said, “Have I committed any crime? You have informed the Parliament that I should not be given a chance to speak.”
‘Soft PR’ and deviation from the party line
His reaction came a day after the party leadership accused Chadha of weakening its political stance in Parliament. Senior leaders alleged that instead of aggressively targeting the Center and PM Modi, Chadha engaged in what they called “soft PR”.Earlier on Friday, senior party leaders had alleged that Chadha had been reluctant to raise issues related to the party’s stand. They pointed to his refusal to sign the notice demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and his failure to join the opposition’s walkout on key issues in the House. Those who accused him of deviating from the party line included Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Rajya Sabha leader Sanjay Singh, Delhi leader Atishi and state unit chief Saurabh Bhardwaj.Asked whether Chadha had been “compromised”, Mann replied in the affirmative. He criticized the MP for raising issues such as the price of samosas at airports, instead of what the party considers a core political concern. “If the party gives a line to raise specific issues, like valid votes were deleted (in West Bengal), 160 AAP leaders and volunteers booked in Gujarat, or Punjab issues, like attempts to polarize communities, MSP, Center stopping GST funds or rural development funds, but someone raises the issue of samosas or pizza delivery timings at airports, won’t that raise suspicions that he is talking from a different station?” Mann said.The criticism increased further when party leaders took a dig at Chadha by using the phrase “Jo darr gaya, understand he is dead” amid the growing controversy over his removal from the post of deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha. Bhardwaj alleged that Chadha repeatedly failed to follow the party line in Parliament and did not participate in the opposition walkout. They also accused him of not adequately raising issues related to Punjab, the state he represents, and being absent at crucial moments, including the arrest of AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal.Stressing the need for discipline and unity, Bhardwaj said, “All party leaders are Kejriwal’s soldiers.” He further alleged that at a time when critics of the government are facing action including FIRs and social media bans, raising relatively minor issues in Parliament amounts to misplaced priorities. “Whenever the opposition staged a walkout in Parliament, you did not participate. You did not raise issues related to Punjab… and when Arvind Kejriwal was arrested, you went into hiding abroad,” he said.Sanjay Singh also questioned Chadha’s silence on several key issues including LPG prices, alleged vote manipulation in West Bengal and rights in Punjab and attacks on AAP workers in Gujarat. Referring to Kejriwal’s arrest in March 2024, Atishi said when party leaders were protesting on the streets, Chadha’s absence raised serious questions. “We had defended you then… but today, I also want to ask, when Kejriwal was arrested, were you scared of the BJP and hence fled to London out of fear?” He said.AAP leader Anurag Dhanda said, “Hundreds of our workers have been arrested in Gujarat… Voting rights are being taken away in West Bengal… For the last few years, you have been scared, Raghav. You hesitate to speak against Modi. You hesitate to speak on the real issues of the country.”
Chadha’s counter
Chadha categorically denied these allegations in the video posted, calling them “white lies” and challenging the party to provide evidence. “The first allegation they leveled against me was that I was not walking out with the opposition. This is a white lie and I challenge you to tell me one example, one incident, where the opposition walked out and I did not support them,” he said. “There are CCTV cameras everywhere in Parliament. Show me the footage and it will become clear,” he said.On the issue of the resolution against the Chief Election Commissioner, Chadha said that no party leader had asked him formally or informally to sign it. He questioned why he was being sidelined when many other MPs have also not signed the motion, noting that the opposition has more than enough members to meet the required number of signatures.Perhaps the sharpest ideological divergence came in the articulation of Chadha’s role as an MP. He rejected the idea that effectiveness in Parliament is measured by disruption. He said, “I did not go to Parliament to create ruckus, shout, break the mic or abuse. I had gone there to raise the problems of the people.He stressed that his focus has consistently been on important public issues, including Punjab’s water crisis, air pollution in Delhi, condition of government schools, railway passenger problems, GST and income tax burden, public health care, education, menstrual health, unemployment and inflation. Emphasizing on accountability, he said, “I go to Parliament not to create ruckus but to create impact,” adding that Parliament is run on taxpayers’ money and he should address their concerns.
BJP entered
Political opponents have also reacted to this controversy. The Bharatiya Janata Party came out in support of Chadha, using the episode to criticize the internal workings of AAP. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said a senior MP being forced to use social media to express concerns indicates a breakdown in communication within the party.He said, “When a senior MP is forced to use social media to express his views within his own party, it reflects a deeply disturbing internal situation.”
Absence at important moments
The controversy started after the removal of Raghav Chadha from the post of Deputy Leader of Aam Aadmi Party in the Upper House on Thursday. The internal rift that had been brewing for almost a year finally came out into the open, and the party effectively “demoted” Chadha and replaced him with Ashok Mittal.However, the biggest blow came not just from his expulsion but from the party’s alleged communication to the Rajya Sabha secretariat that Chadha should no longer be allotted speaking time from his official quota – a move widely seen as an attempt to further sideline him.Soon after, Chadha posted a cryptic response on Instagram, sharing video highlights of her speeches in the Upper House with a “nazar” (evil eye) emoji, without making any direct comment.The move comes in the backdrop of Chadha’s prolonged silence on party matters and his absence from several major public events under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal. Party insiders say that instead of emerging suddenly, the cracks have been growing for almost two years.A major cause of uneasiness within the party has been Chadha’s absence at crucial moments. While leaders like Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia faced legal troubles and jail sentences, Chadha’s absence from major press conferences and protest sites was scrutinized.When Kejriwal was arrested in the excise policy case in March 2024, he was abroad for medical reasons and remained away during his nearly six-month imprisonment, meeting him only days after his release on September 13, 2024. Recently, even after a Delhi court acquitted Kejriwal, Sisodia and other AAP leaders in the same case, Chadha maintained silence and after the relief, he did not even attend Kejriwal’s press conference and a rally at Jantar Mantar.AAP currently has 10 members in the Rajya Sabha, including seven from Punjab and three from Delhi, making the internal rift even more significant for the party’s parliamentary strategy.Chadha now becomes the second Rajya Sabha MP after Swati Maliwal to have differences with the party leadership, pointing to a broader pattern of internal tensions.
