New Delhi, April 4 The escalating dispute between the Aam Aadmi Party and its Rajya Sabha MP, Raghav Chadha, intensified on Saturday, with the sidelined leader dismissing AAP's allegations against him as "lies" and asserting that he went to Parliament to raise people's issues and not to create chaos.
"All these lies will be exposed. Because I am wounded, therefore I am dangerous," the MP said in a video statement, quoting from the movie 'Dhurandhar', and alleged that there was a coordinated campaign to target him.
His reaction came a day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) launched a full-scale attack, accusing him of shying away from raising his voice against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre in Parliament, and instead engaging in "soft PR". AAP had removed him as its deputy leader in Rajya Sabha on Thursday, after which the MP had said he had been "silenced, not defeated".
Chadha also countered claims by AAP leaders that he did not participate in opposition walkouts and had refused to sign the notice for a motion to remove the Chief Election Commissioner.
He said that he did not want to respond, but if lies are repeated consistently, they may seem to appear true.
"The first allegation they put against me was that I did not walk out with the opposition. This is a white lie, and I challenge you (AAP) to give me one example, one incident, where opposition walked out and I didn't support them," Chadha said.
"There are CCTV cameras everywhere in the parliament. Show me footage and it will become clear," he said.
On the notice for a motion against the Chief Election Commissioner, Chadha said no party leader had asked him, either formally or informally, to sign it.
He said that several other MPs from his party had also not signed the motion.
"So, what is my fault? Why am I being blamed here?" he said, noting that 50 signatures were needed for the notice and there were 105 MPs in the opposition.
"They said I am scared and that is why I am raising useless issues. I want to tell you that I did not go to parliament to create ruckus, scream, break the mic or abuse. I went there to raise problems of people," the MP said.
"From Punjab's water issues to air pollution in Delhi, poor conditions of government schools and the problems being faced by passengers travelling in trains... I raised such issues," he said.
The MP said his focus in Parliament has been on raising public issues like GST, income tax, public healthcare, education, railway passenger issues, menstrual health, unemployment and inflation.
Chadha said that he goes to Parliament to "create impact not ruckus" as it runs on taxpayers' money and it is his responsibility to highlight their concerns. "Every lie will be exposed," he said.