Don't talk about 'samosas', stop soft PR: AAP slams Raghav Chadha

New Delhi [India], April 3 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Delhi President Saurabh Bhardwaj on Friday criticised his party MP Raghav Chadha for failing to confront the central government on critical issues, stating that the latter preferred "soft PR" in Parliament.

Bhardwaj's remarks follow a statement by Raghav Chadha on X, where he questioned the reasoning behind his removal.

In a response, Bhardwaj defended the party's decision by highlighting that a small party like AAP has limited time to address its issues, so that time should be spent on bigger issues such as the matter of SIR in West Bengal.

"We are all soldiers of Arvind Kejriwal ji, and we have learnt only one thing: 'jo dar gaya samjho mar gaya' (those who are afraid are as good as dead)...It doesn't matter to the government if someone does soft PR in their Parliament. Because a small party has very limited time in the Parliament, if someone is raising the issue of 'samosas' during that time, it is more important to raise the big issues of the country," he said.

Raghav Chadha has also been an MP since April 2022. He has made headlines on several occasions for raising issues such as delivery gig workers' stress, menstrual hygiene and more.

Referring to the "impeachment" motion submitted by opposition parties against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar during the second phase of the budget session, Bhardwaj recalled that Chadha refused to sign the motion.

"Whenever there is an issue on which the opposition walks out, you do not walk out. For a long time now, I have seen that you haven't raised any issue in the House where you questioned the Prime Minister or the Bharatiya Janata Party government," he said, further asking how the "fear politics" will work.

The former minister specifically highlighted Chadha's silence regarding the arrest of AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi excise policy case, accusing the party MP of hiding abroad during that time.

"All our leaders were in jail. The government arrested Arvind Kejriwal ji as Chief Minister in a false case. You were not in the country even at that time; you went and hid somewhere. I believe that we will have to raise the real issues for the country fearlessly and with courage, and you will have to raise the issues by looking the Bharatiya Janata Party in the eye. Otherwise, look, they don't care about your soft issues," he said.

On Thursday, the Aam Aadmi Party sent an official letter to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat informing that Ashok Kumar Mittal will be the new Deputy Leader of AAP in the Upper House, the party stated. Mittal has replaced Raghav Chadha as the Deputy Leader of AAP in the House.

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