Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha on Saturday publicly responded to the Aam Aadmi Party’s decision to remove him as its deputy leader in the Upper House, rejecting what he described as a deliberate and organised attempt to tarnish his image.

In a video shared on social media platform X, Chadha addressed three key accusations raised by the party — that he avoided criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, failed to support a motion against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and spent parliamentary time discussing trivial matters instead of substantive national concerns.

AAP’s national media head Anurag Dhanda had earlier claimed that Chadha had grown hesitant in confronting the central government and was not raising pressing public issues.

‘Pre-planned Narrative’, Says Chadha

Refuting the charges, the Punjab MP alleged that identical allegations were being repeated in a patterned manner, suggesting a “scripted campaign” against him. He said he felt compelled to respond before such claims gained traction.

On the accusation that he did not stand with Opposition parties during protests or walkouts, Chadha dismissed the claim outright. He challenged critics to produce evidence of any instance where he had not supported collective Opposition action, noting that parliamentary proceedings are fully recorded.

Responding to the controversy over the impeachment motion against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, Chadha pointed out that several AAP MPs had also not signed the proposal. He questioned why he alone was being singled out when the party has ten representatives in the Rajya Sabha.

‘Here to Raise Issues, Not Create Chaos’

Chadha also rejected the suggestion that he avoided sensitive debates out of fear of the ruling BJP. He said his role in Parliament is to articulate citizens’ concerns in a constructive manner rather than disrupt proceedings.

Listing his interventions, he referred to debates on air pollution in Delhi, education infrastructure, matters affecting Punjab, and grievances of railway passengers, among other topics. He maintained that his parliamentary record reflects sustained engagement on public issues.

Ending his statement with a dramatic flourish, Chadha quoted a popular Hindi film dialogue to signal resilience in the face of criticism.

The development comes shortly after the AAP replaced him with party MP Ashok Mittal as deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha. The move followed internal dissatisfaction over Chadha’s perceived silence on certain party matters, including the discharge of senior leaders in a case related to the Delhi excise policy.