Who said what on Raghav Chadha’s removal as AAP Rajya Sabha deputy leader| India News

Aam Aadmi Party’s removal of MP Raghav Chadha as the party’s deputy leader 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 is being termed as “highly objectionable”. While some leaders maintained that this was AAP’s internal matter, they also said that preventing Chadha from speaking in Parliament was “wrong” and claimed that the MP had been “sidelined”.

As for the Aam Aadmi Party, Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal, who replaces Chadha as the deputy leader of the party in the Upper House of Parliament, said this was a “normal” and “continuous process”. Several AAP leaders have, however, lashed out at Chadha, including Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann who said he was “compromised.” Chadha is in the Rajya Sabha from Punjab.

Raghav Chadha breaks silence after AAP drops him from Rajya Sabha post: ‘Have I done something wrong?’

Sachdeva told news agency ANI that raising regional issues was the responsibility of an MP, while accusing AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal of not being able to “tolerate opposition.”

BJP MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri also condemned AAP’s move, while calling Chadha a “good speaker”.

“If the AAP leadership has put a stop to his speaking, then this is complete dictatorship… I ask Arvind Kejriwal: where democracy is left in their party?” Bidhuri told ANI.

Accusing the AAP of following a “use and throw” approach, Union minister of state Ravneet Singh Bittu said the party was a “one man show”.

“The way he runs the party in a dictatorial manner, people will eventually leave him. I do not want to make personal remarks about Raghav Chadha, but he was once considered very close, almost like a son. Even today, those who are not aligned with him will start finding their own paths,” Bittu told reporters, according to news agency PTI.

The Congress highlighted that the development suggests that Chadha was now “separate” from AAP.

“People realised this long ago, when he went to London while Kejriwal was arrested. Public perception now is that Chadha will leave or be removed from the party and join elsewhere,” Congress MP and Punjab unit chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring told ANI.

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Congress leader Rajendra Pal Gautam, formerly in the AAP, said the AAP puts forward “honest faces” but goes on to do “wrong things.” “There should be a study on why people sent to Rajya Sabha by AAP start opposing the party and are then sidelined,” Gautam added.

“AAP is a party that functions democratically. Our party always tries to give different responsibilities to different people,” Mittal said. “Before Raghav ji, ND Gupta ji served as the Deputy Leader. Now, I have been appointed to this post, and tomorrow someone else will come,” he added.

However AAP’s Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj accused Chadha of doing “soft PR”, while Punjab CM Mann alleged he was “compromised.”

“We all are soldiers of Arvind Kejriwal, the Centre doesn’t care about soft PR or talking about samosas at airport canteens when bigger issues are at stake,” Bharadwaj said in a video on X.

He further said that Chadha had not participated in Opposition walkouts, and added that he had not raised issues concerning Punjab.

Punjab CM Mann said, “When we sit as opposition members in Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha, many decisions are taken collectively, like staging a walkout. But if anyone breaks the party line or does not obey, then it is against the whip.” Meanwhile, AAP leader Atishi hit out at the BJP when asked whether 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 thing is happening with Raghav Chadha as well,” Atishi said.