Chandigarh, April 4 Leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Punjab, including Cabinet Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, accused sidelined party leader Raghav Chadha on Saturday of failing to raise the state's issues in Parliament.
The AAP leaders claimed that critical matters, including the Rs 8,500 crore Rural Development Fund (RDF) dues, GST-related losses of about Rs 60,000 crore, and Rs 1,600 crore in flood relief, were not taken up by Chadha, who is a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, despite repeated communication.
Calling the "silence" a betrayal of Punjab's people and their mandate, the AAP leaders said Chadha's "failure" to raise farmers' concerns and the plight of flood victims reflected a complete disconnect from ground realities.
The remarks came after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) removed Chadha as its deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, after which the MP had said he had been "silenced, not defeated".
The party also launched a full-scale attack, accusing Chadha of shying away from raising his voice against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre in Parliament and instead engaging in "soft PR".
Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said, "Raghav Chadha was elected to the Rajya Sabha by Punjab's MLAs with the expectation that he would strongly represent the state's concerns at the national level.
"However, he completely avoided raising even a single sensitive issue related to Punjab."
Listing key financial issues, Cheema said in a statement, "He failed to raise several critical matters, including the pending RDF of nearly Rs 8,500 crore, massive GST-related losses of around Rs 60,000 crore since its implementation, and additional financial setbacks of Rs 5,000-6,000 crore due to changes in GST compensation."
Funds under the National Health Mission were also not adequately addressed (by Chadha), Cheema alleged.
Referring to flood relief, Cheema claimed that despite the prime minister announcing Rs 1,600 crore for Punjab after last year's devastating floods, not even a fraction of that amount has reached the state's treasury.
"All these issues were repeatedly conveyed to Chadha, yet he did not raise even one of them in Parliament," Cheema claimed.
"We sent him to the Rajya Sabha with hope, but he did not speak even once before the prime minister on these issues. This clearly shows a compromise.
"AAP gives opportunities to common people, but remaining silent on such crucial issues is a betrayal of Punjab and its people," Cheema said.
Punjab AAP president and Cabinet minister Aman Arora also lashed out at Chadha and said, "He must remember the role played by Arvind Kejriwal and the party in elevating him politically.
"But instead of focusing on Punjab's pressing issues, he chose to raise unrelated matters, which the entire country noticed."
Arora added, "The party was founded on the principle of fighting for people's rights without fear, and any deviation from that path is unexpected and unacceptable.
"Raghav Chadha should introspect and remember the party's core mission of standing up against injustice and advocating for people's rights."
AAP spokesperson and MLA Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal said, "There is a deep disappointment over Raghav Chadha's silence on the plight of Punjab’s flood-affected people.”
AAP leaders and the affected people had repeatedly urged Chadha to raise the issue of compensation in Parliament, especially the Rs 1,600 crore relief announced by the prime minister, which has not been delivered, Dhaliwal claimed.
The AAP leaders collectively asserted that Punjab's issues must be raised at every platform, and any failure to do so will amount to a betrayal of the people’s mandate.