Reacting to Raghav Chadha’s “silenced” video that surfaced on Friday morning, the AAP has said that the government does not care about “soft PR” and it is more important to talk about larger issues of the country rather than talking about “Samosa,” the president of the Aam Aadmi Party’s Delhi unit, Saurabh Bharadwaj said.
“The government is employing fully corrupt methods to win elections. In Bengal, the Opposition brought a motion to impeach the CEC. But you refused to sign it,” he said.
In a video statement, Chadha said, “The party has formally requested the Rajya Sabha Secretariat to stop him from speaking under the AAP quota. Is it wrong to speak for the people? I ask this because my own party has now formally requested the Rajya Sabha Secretariat to stop me from speaking.”
“Why would anyone want to silence me?” Raghav Chadha said. “Don’t mistake my silence for my defeat,” he said.
Meanwhile, AAP has criticized Chadha for not raising bigger issues of the country, including Punjab, the state he represents in the Rajya Sabha.
“I believe we need to raise issues important to the country and courageously fight the BJP. They don’t care about your soft issues; rather, they are supporting you on social media. Think about it,” Bharadwaj said.
Speaking on the matter, former Delhi CM and AAP leader Atishi questioned Chadha and said, “Are you scared of BJP and Narendra Modi that you don’t question them?”
“I remember, when Kejriwal was arrested, AAP leaders took to the streets and faced police lathi charges. We were being dragged on the streets. You (Raghav Chadha) were in London then. You said you had an eye operation. We told the media that Raghav Chadha Ji is not scared; he has an eye operation. But now, I’m questioning if you were scared when Kejriwal was arrested,” she said.
Meanwhile, AAP’s national media chief, Anurag Dhanda, alleged that Raghav Chadha declined to endorse a resolution against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and did not join the party’s walkout during the Prime Minister’s address in Parliament, choosing instead to remain seated.
“Did Sansad Sahab speak for hundreds of AAP workers who have been arrested by the Gujarat Police? He would stay in attendance in the Parliament when the AAP MPs staged a walkout,” he said.
BJP Reacts to the Attack
Reacting to the AAP’s attack on Chadha, Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said, “Raghav Chadha should have broken his silence long ago; Arvind Kejriwal has a talent; first he uses people and then gets rid of them.”
“The removal of Raghav Chadha from the post of Deputy Leader of the Rajya Sabha is a decision taken by his party, and all parties are free to make such decisions. The objection, however, lies in the act of writing to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat requesting that Raghav Chadha be denied permission to speak. Arvind Kejriwal is a frightened, weak man; he dislikes the opposition and is intimidated by the competence of others,” Sachdeva said.
Meanwhile, BJP MP Pamvir Singh Bidhuri, commending Chadha for raising public issues, said, “When I was the Leader of the Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Raghav Chadha was an MLA there.” He used to speak well, and it was good to listen to him. Later, he moved to the Rajya Sabha, where he has continued to raise public issues. It is beyond my understanding why Arvind Kejriwal has imposed restrictions on Raghav Chadha from speaking.
“If a senior member and a parliamentarian are being stopped from speaking, I believe this amounts to a complete undermining of democracy. Arvind Kejriwal and his party leadership should reconsider this decision,” he added.
On Thursday, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) replaced Raghav Chadha as its party’s deputy leader in Rajya Sabha and appointed its Punjab MP Ashok Mittal for the position. The party said that it has informed the Rajya Sabha Secretariat of the decision.
Furthermore, according to the reports, Chadha, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, will not be allotted time for speaking in the House from the AAP’s quota. The AAP Party currently consists of 10 members in the Rajya Sabha, seven from Punjab and three from Delhi. This makes the party the fourth largest in the Upper House after the BJP, Congress, and the Trinamool Congress.
