Raghav Chadha has come out swinging against his own party just 48 hours after being stripped of his role as the Aam Aadmi Party’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha. In a defiant video posted to X on Saturday, the MP took aim at what he described as a "scripted" and "coordinated" character assassination, addressing three specific allegations that have surfaced since his demotion.
Responding to claims from the party on Friday that he was "too afraid" to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi and had failed to back a resolution against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Chadha argued that he was being singled out unfairly. On the matter of the impeachment motion against the CEC, he pointed out a glaring inconsistency in the party's narrative: "There are ten Rajya Sabha MPs from the AAP. Why am I being blamed for not signing when six or seven others didn't sign either?"
The MP also dismissed accusations that he had traded serious parliamentary debate for trivialities like "discussing samosas". Calling the suggestion a "white lie," he challenged his critics to review CCTV footage from Parliament to verify his record of supporting Opposition walkouts. "I am in the Rajya Sabha to raise people's issues, not to create a ruckus," he noted, adding that he aims for "impact" over noise.
The rift appears to have been triggered by Chadha’s perceived silence following the recent legal victories for Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia in the excise policy case. With Ashok Mittal already installed as his successor, Chadha closed his statement with a pointed cinematic flourish, quoting a line from the Bollywood thriller 'Dhurandhar': "Ghayal hoon, isliye ghatak hoon" (I am hurt, and that makes me dangerous). It was a clear signal that while he may have been sidelined by the party leadership, he has no intention of fading into the background.
Also read: ‘Silenced, not defeated’: Chadha hints at rift in AAP
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