NEW DELHI: In his first major reaction, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha on Friday shared a video message addressed to the “aam aadmi”, a day after the party moved to remove him as its deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha. “Silenced, not defeated,” Chadha said in the post on X, adding: “I have been silenced, not defeated” and “My message to the ‘aam aadmi’. “Is raising public issues a crime? Have I made a mistake? Have I done something wrong? Whenver I talk, I only talk about problems faced by common people. Why would someone stop me from speaking and raising issues of public interest,” he said in the video.He appealed to the general public to “stand by me the way you always have.” However, in a veiled warning, he said, “Don’t mistake my silence for surrender. I’m a quiet river now, but I know how to rise into a flood.” The video message came hours after Chadha on Thursday posted a montage on social media highlighting issues he said he had raised in his capacity as deputy leader of the party in the House.The montage mentioned concerns such as the tax burden on the middle class, the data expiry problem, paternity leave as a right in India, and excess baggage charges at airports. Earlier on Thursday, the Aam Aadmi Party wrote to the Rajya Sabha secretariat seeking Chadha’s removal from the post and proposed Punjab MP Ashok Mittal as his replacement. According to sources, the letter also stated that Chadha — a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab — should not be allotted time for speaking in the House from the party’s quota.
