‘I am the recently removed deputy leader’: Raghav Chadha’s jibe at AAP in Rajya Sabha

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New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party leader Raghav Chadha on Friday took a subtle dig at his own party, when he rose to speak in the Rajya Sabha. He pointed out that the leader of the party to which he belongs was not present in the House. He also referenced himself as the recently removed deputy leader of the party in Rajya Sabha.

Raghav Chadha’s public fallout with AAP and dig at party colleagues

As he rose to speak in the Rajya Sabha, Chadha said, “The leader of the party I belong to is not present in the House”, referring to Sanjay Singh, who is AAP’s leader in the Upper House. The Punjab MP then added, “The newly appointed deputy leader of the party I belong to is also not present in the House.” This second sentence was directed at businessman turned politician, Ashok Kumar Mittal, who is a Rajya Sabha member from Punjab, just like Chadha.

One must note that Raghav Chadha had a very public fallout with his party, AAP. Once considered close to former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, he was recently replaced as the Deputy leader of the party in Rajya Sabha. The party had also written to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat to not allot Chadha time from the AAP’s quota to speak in Parliament.

While speaking in the House on Friday, Chadha said, “I am the recently removed deputy leader, and I am present in the House. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to speak.” He was speaking during the felicitation ceremony of Deputy Chairperson of the Upper House, Harivansh Narayan Singh, who was elected unopposed for a third term on April 17.

AAP accused Chadha of soft PR, not raising real issues in Parliament

The Rajya Sabha witnessed yet another tense exchange between Chadha and his party. For the last few weeks the exchanges between the 2 sides were carried out on social media platforms.

After the AAP removed him as its deputy leader in the House, Chadha fought back. He claimed that his own party was trying to silence him as he was raising the people’s issues in Parliament. AAP denied the charge. They claimed that appointing Mittal as the new deputy leader was a routine affair.

However matters continued to deteriorate. Several AAP leaders attacked Chadha, accusing him of being afraid of the Modi government and not speaking about the real issues in Parliament. AAP leaders said that he was scared and had forgotten the party’s slogan, ‘Jo dar gaya, samjho mar gaya’. They accused him of doing soft PR and not participating in debates on important issues like the SIR exercise in West Bengal. The party accused him of not joining the Opposition ranks in opposing the government.

Chadha denied all charges made by his party colleagues.