The internal rift within the Aam Aadmi Party has moved from hushed speculation to a full-blown public confrontation, since senior leader Saurabh Bharadwaj delivered a stinging critique of Raghav Chadha’s recent conduct. In a pointed video message, Bharadwaj advised the Rajya Sabha MP to abandon "soft PR" and stop wasting Parliament's precious time on trivialities like the price of "samosas", urging him instead to find the courage to challenge the BJP-led central government directly.
The exchange follows the party’s decision on Thursday to strip Chadha of his role as deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, replacing him with Ashok Mittal. While Chadha initially met the demotion with silence, he surfaced on Friday with a video titled "Silenced, not defeated", in which he questioned whether it had become a crime to raise public interest issues. Bharadwaj’s response was swift and uncompromising, casting doubt on Chadha’s bravery and loyalty to the party's founding principles.
"Raghav bhai, we are all soldiers of Arvind Kejriwal, and we were taught that those who get scared are as good as dead," Bharadwaj remarked. He, further, argued that the current political climate demands leaders who can look a "dictatorial" government in the eye, rather than focusing on safe, media-friendly topics. According to Bharadwaj, because smaller parties are allotted very little speaking time in the House, that window must be used for national crises rather than "trivial matters" that the government simply ignores.
The criticism went deeper than mere choice of topics, as Bharadwaj accused Chadha of actively distancing himself from the Opposition’s collective battles. He pointed to Chadha’s alleged refusal to sign an impeachment motion against the Chief Election Commissioner and his failure to join Opposition walkouts. "For a long time now, I have not seen you raise any issue in Parliament where you directly questioned the Prime Minister. How can politics function with fear like this?" Bharadwaj asked, specifically highlighting Chadha’s silence on the legal battles faced by party workers in Gujarat and his absence from India when Arvind Kejriwal was arrested.
The sentiment was echoed by AAP’s national media in-charge, Anurag Dhanda, who took to X to suggest that Chadha’s identity as a "Kejriwal soldier" had been compromised by his apparent hesitation to speak against PM Narendra Modi. Dhanda mocked the MP’s focus on making airport canteen snacks cheaper while the country faced more significant struggles.
Perhaps most damaging was Bharadwaj’s observation that the Bharatiya Janata Party had begun supporting Chadha on social media following the news of his demotion. He called on Chadha to reflect on his journey and consider whether his current "soft" approach is what the country actually needs. The public nature of this dressing-down suggests that the bridge between Chadha and the party leadership is not just scorched, but potentially collapsing.
Also read: ‘Silenced, not defeated’: Chadha hints at rift in AAP
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