“Silenced, Not Defeated”: Raghav Chadha Posts Video Message For ‘Aam Aadmi’

New Delhi: Raghav Chadha hit back Friday morning after the Aam Aadmi Party dropped him as its Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha, and said he would no longer be allowed to speak for it in Parliament. “Whenever I get a chance to speak in Parliament I raise public issues. Maybe I raise topics not usually raised,,, but is raising public issues a crime? Have I committed a crime? Have I made a mistake? Have I done something wrong?” Chadha asked in a video message posted on X. “I am asking this question because the AAP told the Secretariat to stop Raghav Chadda from speaking in Parliament,” he said in his ‘silenced, not defeated’ message to the ‘aam aadmi’.

AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj replied with a video message of his own, in which he criticised Chadha for focusing only on “soft issues” and not supporting the party on contentious political topics, including not questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi or the ruling BJP in Parliament or walking out of the House when other opposition parties did so as a form of protest.

Bharadwaj also attacked Chadha for ‘hiding’ when the AAP was under fire over the liquor excise policy issue. “All our political leaders were in jail. Arvind Kejriwal was arrested in a false case (but) you were not in the country. You went somewhere and hid. We have to raise real issues with courage and fearlessness… we have to raise real issues despite pressure from the BJP. Otherwise your soft issues will not make a difference,” he said on X. The BJP, he further claimed, has been supporting Chadha in recent days. “Think about it… see where you came from and where you are now. And what the country needs and how you can make it better. Thank you.”

Chadha’s message (and Bharadwaj’s response) followed a dramatic Thursday. The drama began after sources told news agency PTI that Chadha – the AAP’s MP from Punjab – had been dropped and the Rajya Sabha Secretariat requested to disallow him floor time. Sources close to Chadha told NDTV the intention was to ‘silence’ him, and that he had been removed as the party’s Deputy Leader so he could not assign himself any time to speak.

The development led to speculation over the future of Raghav Chadha – once seen as a top-rung leader and part of party boss Arvind Kejriwal’s inner circle – in the Aam Aadmi Party. The AAP has yet to explain why Chadha was dropped. However, sources said his absence from key party activities and on the clean chit to Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia – in the liquor policy case – sparked speculation in the corridors of power. Chadha, however, has been active raising key issues in the Rajya Sabha, including high food prices at airports, gig workers’ rights, and traffic congestion in major cities.