New Delhi: The rift within the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has blown wide open as Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha adopted a defiant stance against his own party leadership. Following his removal from the post of Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha, Chadha has claimed he is the victim of a “well-planned conspiracy.”
The party high command recently replaced Chadha with Ashok Kumar Mittal for the key parliamentary role. This move has triggered a bitter war of words, with senior AAP leaders including Atishi, Saurabh Bharadwaj, and Sanjay Singh reportedly turning their guns on the young MP.
‘Ghayal hoon, isliye ghaatak hoon’
Responding to the internal attacks, Chadha took to social media on Saturday to share a video message featuring a famous dialogue from the movie Dharavi: “Ghayal hoon, isliye ghaatak hoon” (I am wounded, therefore I am dangerous).
Chadha alleged that a “scripted campaign” is being run to malign him. He noted that the same language and allegations are being repeated across various platforms.
“Initially, I thought I shouldn’t respond,” Chadha said in his post. “But then I realized that if a lie is repeated often enough, people might start believing it as the truth. That is why I decided to come forward and speak.”
Allegations of ‘Selfies over Substance’
The internal friction isn’t just about titles. Senior AAP netas have openly criticized Chadha’s working style, accusing him of prioritizing his personal brand over serious politics.
Party insiders have leveled stinging remarks, claiming Chadha focuses more on “minor issues like samosas” rather than weighty political matters. The rift has reached a point where the party has reportedly asked that Chadha not be given speaking time from the party’s allotted quota in Parliament.
A Calculated Move?
Chadha has dismissed his removal as neither “normal” nor a “coincidence,” labeling it a deliberate attempt to sideline him. As the sarkar in Delhi and Punjab deals with its own set of challenges, this internal kalash (strife) marks a significant turning point for the party’s internal dynamics.
With both sides now out in the open, the AAP “young Turk” seems ready for a long-drawn political battle against the very veterans who once stood alongside him.
