AAP, Raghav Chadha continue to spar over his removal as Rajya Sabha deputy leader

The tussle between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and party MP Raghav Chadha continued on Saturday (April 4, 2026) with the latter rejecting allegations raised against him by the party as “false” and part of a “coordinated campaign”. 

Hitting back, the AAP said that Mr. Chadha failed to raise even a single key issue of Punjab in Parliament.  On Thursday, the AAP removed Mr. Chadha as the deputy leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha. Since then, they have been engaged in a war of words. 

Allegations are a lie: Chadha

In a video posted on social media platform X on Saturday, Mr. Chadha termed the AAP’s claims that he did not join Opposition walkouts in Parliament a “blatant lie” and challenged the party to prove the allegations. He described the attack against him as “scripted and coordinated campaign”.

Mr. Chadha said that another allegation that had he refused to sign the impeachment motion against the Chief Election Commissioner was also a “lie”. “Another blatant lie. No Aam Aadmi Party leader asked me to sign this motion, neither formally nor informally,” he said. 

“I did not go to Parliament to create noise, shout, break the microphone, or abuse. I went there to raise public issues,” Mr. Chadha said, adding that he went to create impact and not ruckus. 

He said that he raised a range of public issues in Parliament. “I spoke about everything from GST to income tax, raised the issue of Punjab’s water to Delhi’s air, from the condition of our government schools to how to strengthen public healthcare institutions… You can check my track record in Parliament,” he said.

‘Didn’t raise any Punjab issues’

Hitting back, Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said, “Raghav Chadha was elected to the Rajya Sabha by Punjab’s MLAs with the expectation that he would strongly represent the State’s concerns at the national level. However, he completely avoided raising even a single sensitive issue related to Punjab.”

Mr. Cheema said that despite the Prime Minister’s announcement of ₹1,600 crore in relief for Punjab after the devastating floods last year, not even a fraction of that amount has reached Punjab’s treasury. “All these issues were repeatedly conveyed to Raghav Chadha, yet he did not raise even one of them in Parliament,” he said. 

AAP Punjab president Aman Arora said that Mr. Chadha must remember the role played by party chief Arvind Kejriwal and the party in elevating him politically. “Instead of focusing on Punjab’s pressing issues such as pending RDF funds and flood relief, he chose to raise unrelated matters, which has been noticed by the entire country,” he said.