Facing accusations from his party AAP of doing his own “soft PR” — public relations or publicity — by “raising issues like samosa prices instead of serious matters concerning democracy”, Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha on Friday out out a fresh video compilation of his interventions in Parliament.
Raghav Chadha's detailed rection was the second of his three videos so far on the issue of his removal as AAP deputy leader in Rajya Sabha. (Sansad TV/ANI Video Grab)
This sparked intense meme activity in the replies on X, divided between those who made jokes about his raising of allegedly trivial issues, and those who hailed him as a hero of the middle class.
In the video posted just after 5 pm on Friday, April 3, this was Chadha's third reaction to being removed as the AAP's deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha.
The video, of 2 minutes 40 seconds, was headlined “My Two Minutes” but there was no accompanying text in the X post; only an emoji of the Indian national flag.
It showed Chadha walking in slow-motion into the Parliament, and then cut to him speaking on a range of issues.
What's in Raghav Chadha's latest video?
“I am not at all ashamed to say that we in India today pay taxes like England to get services like Somalia,” he is saying in the first bit from Rajya Sabha proceedings' footage.
Another bit was when he called for a Right to Recall. Parts of his speeches in the compilation dealt with “income not increasing at the level at which India's inflation is increasing”, his underlining of a “duopoly” in India's aviation sector, and the need for a relook at the taxation systems.
Significantly, the clip contained his raising of issues linked with Punjab, the AAP-ruled state from where he is MP and whose CM Bhagwant Mann bitterly criticised him earlier in the day for not raising relevant issues.
Chadha's latest video compilation thus had his interventions about a “cancer train” running from Punjab's Bathinda to Rajasthan's Bikaner, and Punjab's water-related issues of “quality and quantity”.
Further on this, he also added an excerpt of his speech demanding the Bharat Ratna for freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.
In the previous video, among a host of issues covered, there was also a mention of farmers reportedly being blamed for pollution.
Sharp reactions
His latest video got sharp reactions on X, with some AAP supporters and others reiterating what party leaders Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj said earlier in the day — that he was “afraid” of raising issues that could directly question PM Narendra Modi or the BJP-led NDA regime at the Centre.
“You were supposed to be the voice of the Aa Aadmi (common person), but were missing on key issues, instead speaking on samosa, crypto and recharge. If you had such fear, why did you take the Rajya Sabha seat?” wrote Amanpreet Singh Uppal, who identified himself as a social media office-bearer of the AAP.
Another user, however, expressed sadness at Raghav Chadha potentially not speaking anymore as the AAP has asked the RS secreteriat not to give him time from the party's quota.
“Now no one will raise issues on: Telecom loot; High crypto taxation; Re-admission scams by private schools; Toll plaza loot; Airport price loot; Food adulteration; Crackdown on activist content; No compensation for airline delays!!” the user posted in reply to Chadha's post.
Chadha has noticed memes and sharp reactions on his speeches earlier.
Just last week, he sportingly welcomed more such memes, even posting his own spin on it, wherein he was shown telling the RS chairperson that “the memes must not stop, sir”.
A week later, the AAP acted against him this Thursday, though the issue of his distancing from the party was simmering for over two years now.
On Friday, AAP's Delhi unit chief President Saurabh Bhardwaj asserted that Chadha "consistently hangs back" whenever the party wants to raise issues against the central government in Parliament.
"The Election Commission appears to be working completely in tandem with the central government. Whose duty is it to raise a voice against this? Raghav Chadha does not even want to mention the central government... The BJP actively promotes Raghav Chadha. His supporters amplify his social media posts. Why do they do this? The Parliament should serve as a forum for debating serious issues and finding resolutions to them... If you succumb to fear, your political career is effectively over," he said.
Delhi Leader of Opposition (LoP) and former CM Atishi also questioned Chadha.
"The LPG crisis is affecting every common man's life. When the party tells Raghav Chadha to address that, he refuses to speak. He is scared to speak against the BJP and PM Modi... Many leaders of the opposition got scared and joined the BJP. Raghav Chadha could be next," she said.
But Chadha said after his removal as the AAP's RS deputy leader, that his “silence” should not be “mistaken for defeat”.
"Perhaps I raise topics that are not usually raised in the Parliament. But is raising public issues a crime? Have I committed a crime? Have I made a mistake? Have I done something wrong?" he said.
Raghav Chadha has been an MP since April 2022, with two years remaining in his tenure.
