Amid an escalating spat between the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, the party on Saturday suggested that Chadha may be leaning towards the Bharatiya Janata Party.
AAP's Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed that Chadha had deleted his earlier social media posts critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. Bharadwaj also noted that posts previously shared by AAP leaders had disappeared from Chadha’s account.
“I thoroughly searched his entire account using the keywords ‘BJP’ and ‘Modi.’ The results are shocking—none of his old criticisms are visible anymore. Only two posts mentioning ‘Modi’ remain, and both are complimentary. Tweets cited by AAP leaders have also vanished,” Bharadwaj wrote on X.
Describing the move as “more than a routine clean-up”, Bharadwaj said Chadha had “reshaped his public profile on the platform”.
He added, “Raghav Chadha, once a sharp critic of Modi and the BJP, has completely erased his old image and presented a new, polished version of himself, almost as if put through a washing machine.”
Opposition parties have used the ‘washing machine’ jibe against the BJP, alleging that leaders with criminal cases are “cleansed” and freed from legal scrutiny once they join hands with the saffron party.
The Delhi AAP chief’s allegation came two days after the party removed Chadha as its deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha. The AAP accused him of avoiding criticism of PM Modi and the Centre in Parliament, instead focusing on what they described as “soft PR.”
Chadha, however, rejected the AAP’s claims as “lies,” insisting that his purpose in Parliament was to raise people’s issues, not create a stir. In a video statement, he said, “All these lies will be unmasked. Kyunki mai ghayal hoon, isiliye ghatak hoon” (“I am wounded, therefore I am dangerous”), quoting the movie Dhurandhar, and alleged a “scripted, coordinated” attack against him.