Raghav Chadha vs AAP: Fissure between ‘ghatak’ MPs and Kejriwal’s ‘soldiers’ turns ugly – showdown explained

New Delhi: Days after Aam Aadmi Party ousts its deputy leader from Rajya Sabha Raghav ChadhaAccusing him of shying away from speaking out against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and engaging in “soft PR”, the onlooker MP on Saturday hit back again, quoting a popular dialogue from the film Durandhar 2 and said: “ghayal hoon isiliye ghatak hoon”.One of the nation’s youngest members of Congress, once considered a close confidant of the president Arvind Kejriwal Raghav Chadha, the key strategist behind AAP’s victory in Punjab 2022, has seen his journey in the party take a dramatic turn. Over the past year, however, cracks have begun to show.

“Ghayal Hoon hence liye ghatak hoon”

Following the action against him, Chadha broke his silence and upped the ante against his party, denying the allegations leveled against him by his own party colleagues. In a strongly worded video message on X, he dismissed the accusations as “baseless and part of a larger, coordinated attempt to discredit him.”“All these lies will be exposed. Kunki mai ghayal hoon isiliye ghatak hoon,” he said, quoting a popular movie dialogue that conveys hurt and intent.Chadha made it clear that he initially chose to refrain but felt the need to respond because repeated accusations could be seen as truth. He also released multiple videos titled “Three accusations, zero truth” directly refuting the party leader’s claims.

“Silence, not defeat”

In another pointed message on X earlier on Friday, Chadha described the incident as an attempt to silence his own voice rather than resolve differences. “Meri Khamoshi Ko Meri Haar Mat Samajh Lena, Main wo Dariya Hun Jo Waqt Aane Par Sailab banta hai,” he said, warning that his silence should not be mistaken as a failure.He also revealed that the party had informed the Federal Chamber Secretariat not to allocate him speaking time, a move he believed was aimed at marginalizing him in parliament. “Have I committed any crime? The AAP has informed the Assembly that I should not be given an opportunity to speak,” he said.

‘Soft PR’ and straying from the party line

A day earlier, the party leadership had accused Chadha of downplaying his political stance in Parliament. Senior leaders alleged that Chadha was not actively targeting the Center and Prime Minister Modi but was engaging in what they termed “soft PR”.Earlier on Friday, senior party leaders alleged that Chadha was unwilling to raise issues in line with the party’s stance. They pointed out that he refused to sign the notice seeking the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and failed to join the opposition’s strike on key issues in the House. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Rajya Sabha leader Sanjay Singh, Delhi leader Atishi and state unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj were among those who accused him of deviating from the party line.When asked if Chadha had “compromised,” Mann responded in the affirmative. He criticized the MP for raising issues such as the price of samosas at the airport rather than what the party considers to be its core political concerns. “If the party clearly raises specific issues like deletion of valid votes (West Bengal), 160 AAP leaders and volunteers booked in Gujarat, or issues in Punjab like attempts to polarize communities, MSPs, withholding of GST funds or rural development funds by the Center, but someone raises the issue of samosas or pizza delivery timings at the airport, doesn’t it make one suspect that he is speaking on a different radio station?” Mann said.Criticisms escalated, with party leaders also lashing out at Chadha with the words “Jo Dar Gaya Samjho Mar Gaya”, while the controversy over Chadha’s removal as deputy leader of the House of Representatives intensified. Bharadwaj alleged that Chadha failed to adhere to the party line on several occasions in the Assembly and did not participate in opposition strikes. He also accused him of not adequately raising issues regarding Punjab, which he represents, and of being absent at crucial moments, including the arrest of AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal.“All party leaders are Kejriwal’s soldiers,” Balavaj said, stressing the need for discipline and unity. He further claimed that raising relatively minor issues in Parliament amounts to misplaced priorities at a time when critics of the government face repression including FIRs and restrictions on social media. “Whenever the opposition went on strike in Parliament, you did not participate. You did not raise issues regarding Punjab… and when Arvind Kejriwal was arrested, you were hiding in a foreign country,” he added.Sanjay Singh also questioned Chadha’s silence on several key issues, including LPG prices, alleged vote-rigging in West Bengal, and what he said was an attack on the rights of Punjab and AAP workers in Gujarat. Referring to Kejriwal’s arrest in March 2024, Atishi said that while party leaders took to the streets in protest, Chadha’s absence raised serious issues. “We defended you then… but today, even I want to ask, when Kejriwal was arrested, were you afraid of the BJP and therefore fled to London out of fear?” she said.AAP leader Anurag Dhanda said: “In Gujarat, hundreds of our workers have been arrested… In West Bengal, voting rights have been taken away… In the past few years, you have been scared, Raghav. You were hesitant to speak out against Modi. You were hesitant to talk about the real problems of the country.”

Chadha’s counter

In a video released, Chadha categorically denied the accusations, calling them “white lies” and demanding the party provide evidence. “The first accusation they leveled against me was that I did not walk out with the opposition. That was a white lie and I ask you to give me an example, an incident, where the opposition walked out and I did not support them,” he said, adding, “There are CCTV cameras everywhere in Parliament. Show me the footage and everything will become clear.”On the issue of the motion against the Chief Election Commissioner, Chadha maintained that no party leader had formally or informally asked him to sign the motion. He questioned why he was singled out when several other MPs also failed to sign the motion, noting that the opposition had enough members to meet the required number of signatures.Perhaps the sharpest ideological divide emerged in Chadha’s articulation of his role as a parliamentarian. He rejected the idea that parliamentary effectiveness was measured by disruption. “I don’t go to Parliament to cause a ruckus, scream, break the microphone or be abusive. I go there to ask people’s questions,” he said.He stressed that he has been focusing on substantive public issues including water crisis in Punjab, air pollution in Delhi, condition of government schools, railway passenger issues, GST and income tax burden, public healthcare, education, menstrual health, unemployment and inflation. Emphasizing accountability, he added, “I go to Parliament to create impact, not to cause disturbance,” noting that Parliament runs on taxpayers’ money and must meet their concerns.

Bharatiya Janata Party steps in

The controversy also prompted reactions from political opponents. The Bharatiya Janata Party came out in support of Chadha and used the incident to criticize the internal workings of the AAP. Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party chief Virendra Sachdeva said the fact that a senior lawmaker was forced to use social media to express concerns was a sign of a breakdown in intra-party dialogue.He said: “When a senior MP is forced to use social media to express his views within his own party, it reflects a deeply troubling internal state of affairs.”

Absent at critical moments

The clashes came on Thursday after Raghav Chadha was sacked as deputy leader of the Aam Aadmi Party in the Upper House. Internal rifts that had been brewing for nearly a year finally came out into the open, with the party effectively demoting Chadha and replacing him with Ashok Mittal.The bigger blow, however, came not just from his removal but from the party’s reported message to the House of Commons secretariat that Chadha should no longer be allocated speaking time in the official quota – a move widely seen as an attempt to further sideline him.Soon after, Chadha posted a cryptic response onThe move comes in the backdrop of Chadha’s long silence on party affairs and absence from several important public events led by Arvind Kejriwal. Party insiders say the rift has been growing for nearly two years rather than appearing suddenly.A major source of disquiet within the party has been Chadha’s absence at crucial moments. While leaders like Sanjay Singh and Manish Sisodia face legal trouble and jail terms, Chadha’s absence from key press conferences and protest venues has drawn scrutiny.When Kejriwal was arrested in the excise policy case in March 2024, he was out of the country for health reasons and remained abroad during his nearly six-month incarceration until he was met days after his release on September 13, 2024. Recently, even after Kejriwal, Sisodia and other UP leaders were released by a Delhi court in the same case, Chadha remained silent and also skipped Kejriwal’s press conferences and rallies at Jantar Mantar.The AAP currently has 10 members in the Lok Sabha, seven from Punjab and three from Delhi, making internal divisions even more important to the party’s parliamentary strategy.Chadha now becomes the second Rajya Sabha MP after Swati Maliwal to fall out with the party leadership, indicative of wider internal tensions.