New Delhi, April 2 A political row erupted on Thursday after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) replaced MP Raghav Chadha as its current Deputy Leader in the Upper House. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress hit out at AAP Convenor Arvind Kejriwal, saying he "should rethink" about the decision and that "all is not well" between the party and the Rajya Sabha MP.
BJP MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri told IANS, "I totally condemn the decision taken by the AAP leadership. Arvind Kejriwal should rethink about the decision of replacing Raghav Chadha as the Deputy Leader of Rajya Sabha."
AAP is also understood to have urged the Rajya Sabha Secretariat not to allot time to Chadha, the incumbent Deputy Leader in the Upper House.
In the past few months, Raghav Chadha has been vociferous in raising issues of public interest and those pertaining to their sufferings.
Reacting on the replacing Raghav Chadha as the Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader, Bidhuri said, "If the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal's party has stopped a senior leader (Raghav Chadha) from speaking, it is complete disregard of the law and the Constitution. How can you stop anyone from speaking. Whether AAP's leadership continues to keep him (Raghav Chadha) as Deputy Leader (of Rajya Sabha) or not, this is within their right."
"But if a Member of Parliament wants to speak in the House, or address the media, or speak regarding the country's national interest on any other platform, how can you stop him," the BJP MP added.
Moreover, Bidhuri praised Chadha for his prior speeches in the Upper House and even during his time in the Delhi Assembly.
"Raghav Chadha used to speak well in the (Delhi) Vidhan Sabha as well as Rajya Sabha. Everybody liked to hear him speak," the BJP MP said.
Speaking to IANS, Punjab Congress President Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said, "The Aam Aadmi Party has taken this decision, and it is their internal matter to appoint or remove someone. However, it is clear that everything is not going well within the party."
"Especially between Raghav Chadha and the Aam Aadmi Party, things seem strained. This is just the beginning. In the coming days, we may see that their paths diverge completely," he asserted.
Warring claimed that both the AAP and party MP Raghav Chadha will go against each other in the future.
Meanwhile, AAP MP Ashok Mittal, who will replace Chadha as the party's new Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha, expressed his gratitude to party chief Kejriwal.
He told IANS, "Firstly, I would like to thank AAP Convenor Arvind Kejriwal for this responsibility. I will fulfill this responsibility with honesty and dedication so that I can keep the party's, Punjab's and the country's stance in the House (Rajya Sabha) as well as outside."
He dismissed reports of Raghav Chadha being unhappy with the AAP.
"I have not come across such a thing," Mittal said.
Moreover, Mittal said, "We (AAP) are a democratic party and follow the traditions of democracy to the fullest. We want that every leader and MP of the party be given different responsibilities at different points of time. On that line I have been assigned this responsibility."
"Before Raghav Chadha, N.D. Gupta had this responsibility. Somebody else will take over after me. Such a process should be in place in every democratic party," he added.
Further, Ashok Mittal also refuted rumours of Chadha joining the BJP.
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