Raghav Chadha vs AAP: Rift between ‘ghatak’ MP and Kejriwal’s ‘soldiers’ turns ugly — the showdown explained | India News

New Delhi: Days after the Aam Aadmi Party removed its Rajya Sabha deputy leader Raghav ChadhaAccusing him of speaking against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and indulging in “soft PR”, the sidelined MP hit back again on Saturday, quoting a popular dialogue from the film Dhurandhar 2, “Ghyal Hoon Isilye Ghatak Hoon.”Among the youngest MPs in the country and once seen as a close confidante Arvind Kejriwal And a key strategist behind AAP’s 2022 Punjab win, Raghav Chadha’s journey within the party has taken a dramatic turn. But over the past year, cracks have begun to appear.

‘Ghyal Hoon Isilye Ghatak Hoon’

Breaking his silence after the action against him, Chadha went against his party by rejecting the allegations leveled against him by his own party colleagues. In a strongly worded video message to X, he dismissed the allegations as “baseless and part of a larger, coordinated effort”.“All these lies will be unmasked. Kiyunki main ghayal hun isiliye ghatak hun,” he says, invoking a popular film dialogue to indicate both hurt and intent.Chadha clarified that he initially chose restraint but was forced to respond because of the risk of repeated allegations being accepted as true. He released a series of videos titled “Three allegations. Zero truth”, directly countering the claims of party leaders.

‘Quiet, Not Defeated’

Earlier in another pointed message to X on Friday, Chadha framed the episode as an attempt to suppress his voice rather than address differences. “Meri khamoshi ko meri har maat samaj lena, mai o dariya hun jo wakt anane 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 marginalizing him within Parliament. “Have I committed any crime? AAP has informed Parliament that I should not be allowed to speak,” he said.

‘Soft PR’ and deviation from party line

His response came a day after the party leadership accused Chadha of undermining his political position in Parliament. Senior leaders alleged that instead of aggressively targeting the Center and Prime Minister Modi, Chadha engaged in what they called “soft PR”.Earlier on Friday, senior party leaders alleged that Chadha was reluctant to raise issues consistent with the party’s position. They pointed to Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s removal and his refusal to sign notices for failure to join opposition walkouts on important 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.Asked if Chadha was “uncompromising”, Mann replied in the affirmative. He criticized the MP for raising issues like the price of samosas at the airport instead of the party’s core political concerns. “If the party gives a line to raise specific issues, like valid voting (in West Bengal), 160 AAP leaders and volunteers booked in Gujarat, or issues in Punjab, like efforts to polarize communities, MSPs, the Center withholding GST funds or rural development funds, but one talks about it during pizza delivery, doubt he talks about samosas at the airport. From another station?” Mann Dr.Criticism escalated with party leaders taking a jab at Chadha using the phrase “jo dar gaya samjho mar gaya” amid a heated 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 about Punjab, the state he represents, and being absent at critical moments, including the arrest of AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal.“All party leaders are Kejriwal’s soldiers,” Bharadwaj said, stressing the need for discipline and unity. He also alleged that at a time when critics of the government were facing a crackdown, 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 Punjab issues… and you were hiding abroad when Arvind Kejriwal was arrested,” he added.Sanjay Singh questioned Chadha’s silence on several important issues, including LPG prices, allegations of vote rigging in West Bengal, and what he described as an attack on Punjab’s rights and AAP workers in Gujarat. Atishi, referring to Kejriwal’s arrest in March 2024, said that while party leaders protested on the streets, the absence of Chadha raised serious questions. “Then we protected you… But today, even I want to ask, when Kejriwal was arrested, did you fear the BJP and therefore fled to London in fear?” she saidAAP leader Anurag Dhanda said, “In Gujarat, hundreds of our workers have been arrested… Voting rights are being taken away in West Bengal… For the last few years, Raghav, you are afraid. You are reluctant to speak against Modi. You are reluctant to speak on the real issues of the country.”

Chad counter

Chadha categorically denied the allegations in the videos posted, calling them “white lies” and challenging the team to provide evidence. “The first allegation they made against me is that I did not walk out with the opposition. This is a white lie, and I challenge you to give me an example, an incident, where the opposition walked out and I did not support them,” he said, adding, “There are CCTV cameras everywhere in Parliament. Show me the footage and it will be clear.”On the motion against the Chief Election Commissioner, Chadha maintained that no party leader had asked him to sign it formally or informally. He questioned why he was being singled out when many 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 difference comes in Chadha’s speech as a member of parliament. He rejected the notion that effectiveness in Parliament was measured by disruption. “I did not go to Parliament to make a fuss, shout, break the mic or abuse. I went there to highlight people’s problems,” he said.He emphasized that his focus is consistently on significant public issues including water crisis in Punjab, air pollution in Delhi, state of government schools, rail passenger problem, GST and income tax burden, public health, education, menstrual health, unemployment and inflation. Emphasizing accountability, he added, “I go to Parliament not to make a fuss, but to make an impact,” noting that Parliament runs on taxpayers’ money and must address their concerns.

BJP stepped in

The controversy has also generated reactions from political opponents. The Bharatiya Janata Party came out in support of Chadha, using the episode to criticize AAP’s internal workings. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said forcing a senior MP to use social media to express concerns indicated a breakdown in 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 disturbing internal state,” he said.

Absence at critical moments

The slogfest started after Raghav Chadha was removed from the post of deputy leader of the Aam Aadmi Party in the upper house on Thursday. Internal rifts that had simmered for nearly a year finally spilled into the open, with the party effectively “resigning” Chadha and replacing him with Ashok Mittal.However, the sharp blow came not only from his removal 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 alienate him.Soon after, Chadha posted a cryptic response to X, sharing video highlights of her speech in the Upper House with a “nazar” (evil eye) amulet emoji, without commenting directly.The move comes in the backdrop of Chadha’s prolonged silence on party matters and his absence from several important public events under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal. According to the internal sources of the party, this rift has been widening for almost two years.A major source of uneasiness within the team is the absence of Chadha at critical moments. While leaders like Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia face legal trouble and jail, Chadha’s absence from key press conferences and protest sites has been investigated.Kejriwal was abroad for medical treatment when he was arrested in March 2024 in the Excise Policy case, and was away for nearly six months in prison with him only days after his release on September 13, 2024. More recently, Chadha remained silent after Kejriwal, Sisodia and other AAP leaders were acquitted by a Delhi court in the same case, and he skipped Kejriwal’s press conference and a rally at Jantar Mantar after the acquittal.AAP currently has 10 members in the Rajya Sabha, including seven from Punjab and three from Delhi, making internal rifts even more important for the party’s parliamentary strategy.Pointing to a broader pattern of internal tensions, Chadha is now the second Rajya Sabha MP after Swati Maliwal to fall out with the party leadership.