Raghav Chadha latest video: A simmering rift within the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has burst into the open, almost a day after senior leader and Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha issued a video, questioning his removal as the party’s Deputy Leader in the Upper House. Chadha posted a strongly worded video message on his official ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) handle, alleging that the party’s decision was aimed at suppressing his voice in the Parliament. He questioned whether raising public concerns in the House had now become a ‘crime.’
Chadha said in the video, “Whenever I get an opportunity, I speak on issues pertaining to the common man, the topics which are rarely discussed in Parliament. Is it wrong to highlight people’s concerns?” Chadha expressed both disbelief and defiance in his video message.
Watch Chadha's latest video on Twitter below:
https://twitter.com/raghav_chadha/status/2039923569988419809
AAP junks gag allegations
The controversy kicked up a day after the APP wrote to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, seeking Chadha’s removal from the Deputy Leader’s post, and replacing him with Punjab MP Ashok Mittal. Chadha questioned the rationale behind the move, pointing to his record of raising matters such as exorbitant prices of food items at the airport, gig workers’ rights, food adulteration, toll tax charges, taxpayer concerns and banking frauds. He asked, “These discussions benefited the common man. How did they harm the party? I am silenced, not defeated,” he said.
However, the AAP leaders quickly scrapped his claims. Mittal asserted that the party follows a democratic process in allocating speaking time, and maintained that Chadha would continue to get opportunities for speaking in the House.
[caption id="attachment_2166" align="alignnone" width="1200"]
Raghav Chadha[/caption]
AAP leadership exhibits signs of strain
Chadha, once considered a close confidant of party Chief Arvind Kejriwal and the youngest prominent parliamentarians in the country, has played a key role in AAP’s political operations, particularly in Delhi and Punjab. Yet, recent developments point towards a growing distance. Chadha remained tight-lipped on party matters and absent from several key events, led by Kejriwal, which had already fuelled speculations of discord. Notably, he is now the second AAP Rajya Sabha MP, after Swati Maliwal, to have reportedly fallen out with the party leadership.
The fallout also comes against the backdrop of jaw-dropping political developments. Chadha was abroad for medical treatment when Arvind Kejriwal and other senior leaders were arrested in connection with the Excise Policy case in March 2024. Recently, he also maintained silence even after a Delhi court cleared Kejriwal, Delhi’s Deputy CM Manish Sisodia and others of the charges in the same case.
Also read: AAP scraps Raghav Chadha as Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader, replaces him with Ashok Mittal