Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: A fresh row has erupted within the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) after Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj alleged that party MP Raghav Chadha has removed earlier social media posts critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.Bharadwaj claimed on Saturday that several of Chadha’s posts on X — previously cited by AAP leaders — were no longer visible on his timeline. He said that keyword searches for terms such as “BJP” and “Modi” did not yield earlier critical remarks.“Only two posts mentioning Modi remain and both praise the prime minister,” Bharadwaj alleged.The allegations come amid an ongoing rift between the party and the Rajya Sabha MP, which became public after AAP removed Chadha as its deputy leader in the Upper House on Thursday.In his post, Bharadwaj suggested that the changes to Chadha’s social media presence were deliberate. Describing it as “more than a routine clean up”, he said Chadha had “reshaped his public profile on the platform”.“Raghav Chadha, who was once a sharp critic of Modi and the BJP, has completely erased his old image and presented a new, polished version of himself like one put through a washing machine,” Bharadwaj said.He added that the manner in which the timeline had been altered pointed to careful planning.“The way Chadha’s timeline has been systematically altered reflects the level of preparation behind it,” he said.The AAP leadership has also accused Chadha of avoiding direct criticism of the central government in Parliament and engaging instead in what it described as “soft PR”.Chadha has denied these accusations, calling them “lies”. He has said that his role in Parliament is to raise public issues rather than create disruption.“I went to Parliament to raise people’s issues and not create ruckus,” Chadha said.The dispute marks a significant escalation in tensions within AAP, with differences between the leadership and one of its prominent national figures now playing out in public.
