NEW DELHI: A political row within the Aam Aadmi Party has intensified after former AAP leader Naveen Jaihind made a series of serious allegations against party MP Raghav Chadha, linking the ongoing dispute to alleged financial misconduct. Speaking to news agency ANI on Saturday, Jaihind claimed that Chadha was a close confidant of party chief Arvind Kejriwal and alleged that the internal conflict was rooted in money “extorted” from Delhi and Punjab. “Raghav Chadha is Kejriwal’s maaldaar (wealthy) and raazdaar (confidant), and the real dispute is about the money extorted from Punjab and Delhi. The money that was supposed to be sent to Singapore, he (Raghav Chadha) took it to England. During this time, he was made to stand like a rooster and beaten in Delhi and then he was beaten at the secret mansion in Chandigarh. This entire matter is about money and corruption, nothing else,” Jaihind told ANI. The controversy comes days after Chadha was removed from the AAP’s deputy leader post in the Rajya Sabha. Following his removal, the MP criticised the party leadership, accusing it of attempting to silence him. Several AAP leaders responded by criticising Chadha, with some alleging that he had been “compromised” and was acting out of fear of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Chadha has denied the allegations. In a post on X, he described the accusations as part of a coordinated campaign against him. “Since yesterday, a scripted campaign has been going on against me. Same language, same words, same allegations. This is no coincidence, but a coordinated attack. At first, I thought I shouldn’t respond. Then I thought that if a lie is repeated 100 times, some people might believe it. So, I decided to respond,” he said. The developments mark an escalation in tensions within the party, with the public exchange of accusations highlighting a widening internal divide.
