‘Ghayal hoon isliye ghatak hoon’: Raghav Chadha tears into AAP allegations with Dhurandhar reference | India News
NEW DELHI: Sidelined Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha on Saturday upped the ante against his party, a day after his colleagues cornered him for being “less blunt” against the ruling NDA in the Upper House, particuarly Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Chadha said charges levelled against him by the AAP leaders was a part of a “scripted campaign” formulated to tragted him in a “coordinated attack”.Without pulling back the punches, the demoted Rajya Sabha member of the AAP borrowed a line from the blockbuster movie “Dhurandar” to attack his party leaders, saying: “Ghayal hoon isliye ghatak hoon” (I’m fatal as I’m wounded).Chadha, once a Kejriwal loyalist and a member of his core team, was up in arms in round two, as he outrightly rejected every charges that the party pinned on him.Launching full frontal attack in a video shared on X, Chadha said he would expose “every lie” and responded to each charge levelled by the party.
What Chadha said
The AAP leader reponded to all three reasons his party gave behind his demotion in the Upper House, be it the non participation in opposition walkout, ECI impeachment or repeatedly raising “trivial issues”.On allegation that he remained seated when opposition walked out of Rjaya Sabha, the AAP leader said it was “completely false and a blatant lie”.Also read | Raghav Chadha vs Aam Aadmi Party: Simmering rift now out in open; what’s next for AAP MP “I challenge anyone to show even a single instance where the opposition walked out and I did not join them. Parliament has CCTV cameras everywhere — bring out the footage and the truth will be clear,” he said.He further rejected the claim that he refused to sign the impeachment motion against the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, saying no leader from the party asked him (formally or informally) to sign it.“In fact, several Rajya Sabha MPs from the party themselves did not sign the motion. So why is the blame being placed solely on me? Moreover, such a motion requires 50 signatures in the Rajya Sabha, and that number could easily have been met. So why the noise?” he asked.Tearing into the third allegations of raising “trivial issues” in the Parliament, Chadha said: “I did not go to Parliament to shout, create chaos, or break microphones. I went there to raise public issues. I have spoken on GST, income tax, Punjab’s water, Delhi’s air pollution, the condition of government schools, strengthening public healthcare, and problems faced by passengers in Indian Railways. I have even raised issues like menstrual health, which people often hesitate to discuss, along with unemployment and inflation. You can check my four-year parliamentary record — I went there to create impact, not disruption.”
AAP calls Chadha ‘compromised’
On Friday senior AAP members accused Chadha of being scared of PM Narendra Modi and not raising issues tied in with the party’s stand. They mentioned his failure to sign the notice seeking removal of CEC Gyanesh Kumar, and defying the party line on walkouts over issues in the House. Read Also | Raghav Chadha sidelined? AAP’s Rajya Sabha shuffle triggers rumours; what went wrongChadha was accused by Punjab CM Bhagwant Singh Mann, leader of party in Rajya Sabha Sanjay Singh, and leader of opposition in Delhi Atishi of engaging in “soft PR” in Parliament. Asked by a journalist if he believed Chadha was compromised, Mann replied, “Yes”.CM Mann criticised Chadha for raising issues such as the price of samosas at airports while ignoring core issues prioritised by AAP, and accused him of deviating from the party line.Mann said, “If the party gives a line to raise specific issues, such as valid votes being deleted (in West Bengal), 160 AAP leaders and volunteers being booked in Gujarat, or Punjab’s issues, like attempts to polarise communities, MSP, Centre holding back GST funds or rural development fund but someone raises issues of samosas at airports or pizza delivery time, won’t it raise doubts that he is talking from a different station?” ‘Jo Dar Gaya Samjho Mar Gaya’ jibe (those who live in fear are good as dead), AAP leaders taunted their estranged colleague.
What led to escalation
The tension exploded after the Aam Aadmi Party replaced Raghav Chadha as its Rajya Sabha deputy leader, appointing Ashok Mittal in his place. The party informed the Rajya Sabha secretariat of the change on Thursday, and the update was reflected on the official website by evening.Both Chadha and Mittal represent Punjab. AAP currently has 10 members in the Rajya Sabha, including estranged MP Swati Maliwal. The abrupt move confimed the perceptions of a widening gap between Chadha and the party leadership led by Arvind Kejriwal.The slugfest spiralled after Chadha, a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab since 2022, put out a video message on X. “To those who have snatched my right to speak in Parliament I would like to say don’t take my silence for defeat. I am that river which can turn into a devastating deluge when the time comes,” he warned.The Rajya Sabha MP asked if speaking about the common man’s problems in Parliament was a crime. “Today, I ask this as AAP has told Rajya Sabha secretariat that Raghav Chadha should not be given time to speak in Parliament. Now why would anyone want to stop me from speaking,” he asked and went on to list the diverse issues he has raised ranging from expensive food at airports, problems faced by food delivery riders to tax on the middle-class.Sanjay Singh questioned Chadha’s silence on the many issues — from LPG cylinders, to manipulation of votes in West Bengal, rights of Punjab under attack and the atrocities being faced by AAP volunteers in Gujarat. “On all these issues Raghav Chadha keeps silent. I would like to tell him that we are foot soldiers of Arvind Kejriwal who has taught us to fearlessly fight against Modi.”Referring to the arrest of Kejriwal in March 2024, former Delhi CM Atishi said that while party leaders were on the streets protesting and facing detention, questions were raised about Chadha’s absence. “We defended you then…But today, even I want to ask that when Kejriwal was arrested, were you scared of the BJP and therefore ran away to London out of fear?” she lashed out.
