Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has weighed in on the growing row within the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), reacting sharply to the removal of Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha from the post of deputy leader in the Upper House.

On Friday, April 3, Mann alleged that Chadha was “compromised” with the BJP, suggesting that his conduct in Parliament had raised concerns within the party.

Leader Seems to Be Speaking From Another Station

Defending the party’s decision, Mann said that when AAP sets priorities for issues to be raised in the Rajya Sabha, its leaders are expected to follow that line. However, he criticised Chadha for focusing on less significant matters.

“If the party decides certain issues should be raised in the Rajya Sabha, but a leader speaks about samosa prices in the canteen, it feels like he is speaking from another station,” Mann said. He added that in such situations, the party is compelled to take action.

AAP Replaces Chadha With Ashok Mittal

The controversy erupted after AAP formally wrote to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat seeking Chadha’s removal as deputy leader and proposed Punjab MP Ashok Mittal as his replacement.

According to sources, the party also indicated in its communication that Chadha should not be allotted speaking time from AAP’s designated quota in the House. Chadha, a Rajya Sabha member from Punjab, was once considered a close confidant of party chief Arvind Kejriwal.

Bharadwaj Questions Chadha’s Approach in Parliament

The internal criticism has not been limited to Mann. Senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj also publicly took aim at Chadha, urging him to adopt a more assertive stance against the BJP-led central government.

Responding to Chadha’s video message after his removal, Bharadwaj questioned why the MP was not raising pressing issues concerning Punjab and the country, instead focusing on what he termed “soft PR”.

“Raghav bhai, I just watched your video. We are all soldiers of Arvind Kejriwal ji. We learned only one thing: the one who gets scared is as good as dead. Our job is to raise people’s issues and question the government directly,” he said.

Bharadwaj argued that the government does not respond to “soft PR speeches” and stressed that the limited speaking time available to smaller parties in Parliament should be used to address major national concerns rather than “trivial issues”.

The post Raghav Chadha ‘Compromised’ With BJP, Alleges Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, Defends AAP’s Action appeared first on Rma News: Latest News, Live Breaking News, Today News, Political News Updates.

David Kirtadze walks up to the head of the Election Commission and throws black paint on him (Image source: AP)

The head of Georgia’s Election Commission, Giorgi Kalandarishvili, was doused in black paint while announcing the poll results in the parliament. A video broadcast on local TV channels showed David Kirtadze, a member of former president Mikheil Saakashvili’s United National Movement (UNM), splashing black paint on Kalandarishvili, which led to an eye injury, Reuters reported. The incident occurred on October 26.

In the now-viral video, Kirtadze walks up to the head of the Election Commission, throws black paint on him, and runs outside the parliament. Several members of the parliament run after him to nab him. As the video progresses, housekeeping staff can be seen wiping the chair and the table covered in black paint.

Sharing the video on Instagram, Brut America wrote, “The meeting was held to confirm the results of the country’s controversial October 26 parliamentary elections,” adding, “Before the act, Kirtadze criticized the results, claiming they did not reflect the voters’ true choice.”

Watch the video here:

  
 
 
 
 
 
 
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The video prompted social media users to react, “Democracy is on shaky ground across the world… pretty alarming.” Another user commented, “In 2021, following the January 6th Capitol riot, violent protests targeted several members of Congress, and there were concerns about the safety of voting sessions in the aftermath.”

According to Reuters, Kalandarishvili returned to the meeting with a plaster on his left eye. Before the incident, Kirtadze, the disrupter, told Kalandarishvili that the official election results did not accurately reflect the voters’ “true choice.”

In response, Kalandarishvili argued that the presence of “pressure, intimidation, and personal insults” indicated there was no proof of vote manipulation.

Source: The Indian Express

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