Prevent Him From Speaking Wrong: BJP Slams AAP Over Raghav Chadha's Demotion

The BJP said on Friday that removing Raghav Chadha as AAP's deputy leader in Rajya Sabha was an internal matter of the party but preventing him from speaking in the House was wrong.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva slammed AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal as a "scared" leader who could not "tolerate any capable person" in his party.

When asked about buzz that the AAP leader may join the BJP, Sachdeva said it was "up to Chadha to decide his future".

The Delhi BJP president said there is a long list of such leaders who left the AAP after differences with Kejriwal, he told PTI.

"Raghav Chadha should have broken his silence long ago. Arvind Kejriwal has a talent, first he uses people and then gets rid of them," Sachdeva said.

The BJP leader said he wanted to dedicate a copulet to Chadha "Zindagi mein bas itna likh paya, bahut mazboot rishte the kuch kamzor logon se" (earned just very strong ties with some weak people in life).

On Thursday, the AAP removed Chadha as the deputy leader of the party in Rajya Sabha. According to sources, the party wrote to the RS Secretariat stating that Chadha -- a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab -- should not be allotted time for speaking in the House from the AAP's quota.

Chadha responded on Friday, saying he has been "silenced, not defeated". In a video posted on X, Chadha said, "Whenever I get a chance, I raise issues concerning the people in Parliament, including topics that are often overlooked. But is it an offence to talk about people's problems? Did I commit any crime?" The AAP soon hit back at Chadha, accusing him of shying away from raising issues against the Centre in Parliament and instead engaging in "soft PR".

Delhi AAP president Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that Chadha failed to take the party's line on several matters in Parliament and did not join opposition walkouts on key issues.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)