Raghav Chadha and Saurabh Bhardwaj (right) (file ph

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party’s internal discord came into public view on Friday when MP Raghav Chadha reacted to his removal as the party’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, drawing sharp retorts from senior colleagues.Leaders including Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bhardwaj and IT cell chief Anurag Dhanda, who call themselves “Arvind Kejriwal’s soldiers”, defended the leadership’s decision and justified Chadha’s ‘demotion’ in the Upper House.Read this also- Split openly in AAP: Raghav Chadha attacks leadership; The party hit backBhardwaj launched a scathing attack, accusing Chadha of indulging in “soft PR” instead of taking on the PM Narendra Modi-led government. Taking a dig at Chadha over a parliamentary intervention, he said, “A small party gets very limited time there, and instead of talking about samosas, it is more important to raise the real issues of the country.”He said, “Whenever there is an issue and the opposition walks out, you do not join the walkout. For the last several years, I have not seen you raising any issue in Parliament, where you have questioned the Prime Minister or the BJP government. How can the politics of fear work like this?”Questioning Chadha’s role as a Rajya Sabha member from Punjab, Bhardwaj said, “You have been elected from Punjab, and you hesitate to even raise Punjab issues. Recently in Gujarat, around 160 party workers were booked under false cases and many were arrested, yet you remained silent on that too.”Increasing the criticism further, he mentioned an old incident related to the party leadership. “When many of our leaders were in jail and Arvind Kejriwal ji as Chief Minister was arrested in a false case, at that time you were not even in the country, you had gone somewhere and stayed away.”Party’s IT cell chief Anurag Dhanda also launched a scathing attack, accusing Raghav Chadha of failing to discharge his responsibilities in the interest of the party. Taking aim at the nature of the issues raised by Chadha in Parliament, he said, “In Parliament, the party gets just a little time to speak – in such a situation, we can either fight to save the country or bargain to make samosas cheaper in airport canteens.”Dhanda increased his criticism by questioning Chaddha’s political stance and resolve. “If someone is afraid of Modi, will he fight for the country?” He alleged that Chadha has avoided taking a strong stand on major national issues. He pointed to several examples in support of his allegation, including alleged silence on the arrest of party workers in Gujarat, inaction on voting rights concerns in West Bengal and his refusal to support a resolution against the Chief Election Commissioner.He accused Chadha of not staying in the House during the party’s walkout and said, “For the last few years you have been scared, Raghav. You hesitate to speak against Modi. You hesitate to speak on the real issues of the country,” before ending with a sharp remark: “He who is scared…”