'I go to Parliament to create impact, not ruckus': Raghav Chadha's sharp rebuttal to AAP's charges

Rejecting the allegations levelled against him by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, who was removed as the deputy speaker, came out with a sharp reaction to the charges.

In a video, Chadha dismissed claims that he did not join opposition walkouts, terming the charge a "blatant lie" and the accusations against him as "false" and part of a "coordinated campaign".

He said initially, he did not want to respond to the allegations levelled against him, but decided to do so to ensure that people interpret these as true.

He challenged his detractors to cite even a single instance where he failed to participate in opposition walkouts and said parliamentary proceedings are recorded through CCTV cameras.

Refuting another allegation that he refused to sign a motion related to the Chief Election Commissioner, Chadha said no party leader had asked him, either formally or informally, to sign it. He added that several other MPs from his party had also not signed the motion.

"So, how am I the only one at fault? Besides, just 50 signatures from the opposition were needed to pass this. So why make an issue over my absence?" he asked.

Reacting to the claim that he is afraid and therefore raises trivial issues, he said his focus in Parliament has been on raising public issues such as GST, income tax, air pollution in Delhi, water concerns in Punjab, public healthcare, education, railway passenger issues, menstrual health, unemployment and inflation.

Chadha said 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. Quoting a popular dialogue from the movie Dhurandhar, he said, “Kyonki main ghayal hoon, isiliye ghatak hoon."