The Aam Aadmi Party’s removal of MP Raghav Chadha from the post of deputy leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha has drawn strong reactions across the political spectrum.
The move drew criticism from AAP’s political opponents, including the BJP and Congress, and was termed as “highly objectionable”. While some leaders maintained that this was an internal matter of AAP, they also said that preventing Chadha from speaking in Parliament was a “mistake” and alleged that the MP had been “sidelined”.
As for the Aam Aadmi Party, Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal, who is replacing Chadha as the party’s deputy leader in the upper house of Parliament, said this was a “normal process” and “ongoing”. However, several AAP leaders criticized Chadha, including Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann who said he had been “exposed”. Chadha in Rajya Sabha from Punjab.
Raghav Chadha breaks his silence after AAP dropped him from Rajya Sabha post: ‘Did I do something wrong?’
The BJP “condemns” the move, and Kunj says Chadha is now “separated” from the AAP
Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said this was an “internal matter” of AAP, but added: “The manner in which it was written to the Rajya Sabha secretariat stating that Raghav Chadha should not be allowed to speak is highly objectionable.”
Sachdeva told news agency ANI that it was the responsibility of an MP to raise regional issues, while accusing AAP’s national conference coordinator Arvind Kejriwal of not being able to “tolerate dissent”.
BJP MP Ramveer Singh Bidhuri also condemned AAP’s move, while calling Chadha a “good speaker”.
“If the AAP leadership stops his speech, it is a complete dictatorship… I ask Arvind Kejriwal: Where is the democracy left in their party?” Bidhuri told ANI.
Accusing the AAP of a “use and throw away” approach, Union Minister of State Ravneet Singh Bittu said the party was a “one-man show”.
“The way he is running the party in a dictatorial manner, people will eventually leave him. I don’t want to make personal statements about Raghav Chadha, but he was considered very close, almost like a son. Even today, those who are not in alliance with him will start finding their own paths,” Bittu told reporters, according to news agency PTI.
The Congress stressed that the development indicates that Chad is now “detached” from the AAP.
“People realized this long ago, when he went to London during Kejriwal’s arrest. The general perception now is that Chadha will leave the party or be removed from it and join somewhere else,” Amarinder Singh Raja Waring, Congress MP and Punjab unit president, told ANI.
Read also | Apart from ‘samosa prices’, what went wrong between Raghav Chadha and AAP?
Congress leader Rajendra Pal Gautam, who was formerly in AAP, said AAP presents “honest faces” but continues to do “wrong things”. “There should be a study on why people sent by AAP to Rajya Sabha start opposing the party and are then sidelined,” Gautam added.
‘Soft’ and ‘balanced’ PR: AAP leaders criticize Chad
AAP MP Ashok Mittal, who is replacing Chadha, said this is a “normal process” in the party.
“AAP is a democratically functioning party. Our party always tries to give different responsibilities to different people,” Mittal said. “Before Raghav ji, ND Gupta ji was the deputy commander. Now, I have been appointed to this post, and tomorrow someone else will come,” he added.
However, Saurabh Bharadwaj, president of AAP’s Delhi unit, accused Chadha of doing “soft PR”, while Punjab CM Mann alleged that he was being “compromised”.
“We are all Arvind Kejriwal’s soldiers. The Center does not care about soft PR or talking about samosas in airport canteens when there are bigger issues at stake,” Bharadwaj said in a video on Channel X.
He also said that Chad did not participate in the opposition strikes and added that he did not raise issues related to Punjab.
“When we sit as opposition members in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha, many decisions are taken collectively, like organizing a strike. But if anyone breaks the party line or does not obey, he is against the whip,” Punjab CM Mann said. Meanwhile, AAP leader Atishi criticized the BJP when asked if Chadha would join the party. “The BJP has a standard operating procedure (SOP). It intimidates, threatens and offers inducements to leaders, and many opposition leaders, either out of fear, pressure or temptation, end up switching sides. Perhaps the same will happen with Raghav Chadha as well,” Atishi said.
