Chandigarh, April 4 (IANS) Adding fuel to the already widening rift in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Punjab Minister Harpal Singh Cheema on Saturday alleged that party MP Raghav Chadha, who was replaced by Ashok Mittal as Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha, "betrayed" the people of the state by not raising related issues in the house.
Reiterating Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's allegation, Cheema also said that the MP "was compromised".
Chadha was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab, but according to Cheema, "he (Chadha) did not raise a single issue in Parliament regarding the GST revenue losses or the financial losses suffered by the state."
"When the flood occurred in Punjab and the BJP's top leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, visited and announced financial aid, not a single rupee reached the banks. Even when we urged him to raise this issue before the Prime Minister, he remained silent. He betrayed the people of Punjab," Cheema told IANS.
Cheema further alleged that even when Punjab was going through the flood crisis, Chadha didn't raise the issue in the Parliament. "This shows that he was not with the ideals of AAP but with the ideals of some other party. This won't be accepted," he said.
He also accused Chadha of being "completely compromised in the country’s Parliament."
"He should have spoken directly to the Prime Minister and raised the concerns of the people of Punjab, including the issues related to Punjab’s RDF (Rural Development Fund) funds. The whole country knows that the BJP has deceived Punjab and its people. At the very least, Raghav Chadha should have spoken out against this betrayal. Why was he quiet?" he asked.
"It is evident from his silence that somewhere he was compromised."
Moreover, the Punjab Minister accused Chadha of not standing by the party.
"When the BJP targeted the Aam Aadmi Party, Raghav Chadha never supported the party. Everyone knows that a false case was fabricated against our party chief, Arvind Kejriwal, by the BJP. Even then, Raghav Chadha went abroad."
"Even when Arvind Kejriwal was discharged by the court, he (Chadha) did not give any reaction," Cheema noted.
