BJP using Raghav Chadha as ‘tool’ to split party: AAP

The Aam Aadmi Party accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of trying to split its ranks using Raghav Chadha, alleging pressure tactics, while BJP dismissed the claims as baseless amid escalating political tensions in Punjab

Punjab/Chandigarh: Ruling Aam Aadmi Party’s Punjab unit on Friday accused the BJP of attempting to engineer a split by using former senior leader Raghav Chadha as a ‘tool’.

BJP hit back, saying that the allegations are baseless. AAP Punjab’s chief spokesperson Baltej Pannu, addressing a news conference here, alleged that Union Home Minister Amit Shah, through Raghav Chadha, is attempting to break AAP MPs so that it weakens the Arvind Kejriwal outfit’s strength and reduces its voice in the parliament. Pannu said that AAP lawmakers remain firmly united. “Our party has reports that Amit Shah has told Raghav Chadha that if he breaks seven MPs, then he will be made a Minister,” Pannu alleged.

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He added that through the central agencies like ED, they (BJP) want to terrorise and put pressure on our MPs, but they will not succeed. The AAP had recently replaced Chadha with MP Ashok Mittal for the post of deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha.

After Chadha claimed that he had been “silenced, not defeated”, the AAP accused him of shying away from raising his voice against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre in Parliament and instead engaging in “soft PR”. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had also slammed Chadha and said he believes he is “compromised”.

Pannu said, “Ever since AAP came to power, regular attempts have been made to break it — be it through attempts to ‘buy’ our MLAs, use threats…but they remained firm as they had joined the party under a mission”. “Wherever polls are near, the BJP government uses agencies like ED, CBI to target political opponents”, he alleged.

“We saw how the BJP government got cases registered even against our top leaders, and many were sent to jail. But nothing came out of these cases,” he claimed. Now again, an attempt is being made to build pressure on our MPs. That is why we have recently seen some ED raids, he said.

Pannu said that AAP had given Raghav Chadha a lot, and he was sent to the Rajya Sabha at a young age.
“But at the BJP’s and Shah’s behest, Chadha is backstabbing the party. But this is Punjab. People do not forgive, and Chadha should understand this,” Pannu said.

Pannu said that on one hand, the BJP says they are going to fight the 2027 Punjab polls. “But the way BJP is carrying out attacks on the Punjab government, on AAP party and on Punjabis, the people will reject them,” he said.

Pannu said that earlier, a senior Congress leader in Punjab used to falsely claim that 35 AAP MLAs were in touch with them.

“These are such parties that they have no reply to the works done by AAP in education, health and other fields. These parties have even had to change their poll manifestos. Otherwise, which party used to talk about health and education earlier?” he said. Responding to the allegations, Punjab BJP leader Vineet Joshi dubbed them as baseless and a bundle of lies. “AAP is levelling such baseless allegations,” Joshi said.