A day after the AAP removed Raghav Chadha as the deputy leader in the Upper House, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said Friday that the Rajya Sabha MP was “compromised.” The remarks from Mann, who was speaking to the media, came after several AAP leaders reacted to a video posted by Raghav Chadha.

Responding to a question about Chadha’s claim that he was being silenced, Mann said, “If he does not walk out on important issues where the party has taken a clear stand, does not follow the party line by raising the issue of deletion of votes in West Bengal, or raise his voice against the Gujarat government registering 160 FIRs against AAP leaders and volunteers, on a bid to spread hatred on lines of caste and religion in Punjab, on MSP and withholding of Rural Development Fund (RDF) of Punjab and is raising the issue of samosas being sold at a higher price at the airport and pizza should be delivered in 40 minutes instead of 30, is it not violation of party whip? Would you not feel he is speaking from a different station? In that case, action has to be taken.”

On whether he thought Chadha was compromised, Mann said, “Yes.”

“Change in the parliamentary board of a party is not a big deal. The party keeps doing it. Leaders and deputy leaders are changed frequently. When I became the MP in 2014, Dr Dharamvira Gandhi was named the leader. After that, I succeeded him. But the party line has to be followed,” the Punjab chief minister added.

On Thursday, the AAP wrote to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat seeking the removal of Raghav Chadha as the party’s deputy leader in the Upper House and recommended MP Ashok Mittal as his replacement. The move comes amid a widening rift between the AAP leadership and Chadha, who has been accused of not attending key party events and meetings in recent months.

Earlier on Friday, Chadha posted a video on X slamming the AAP for allegedly stopping him from speaking in Rajya Sabha.

“Whenever I get a chance to speak in Parliament, I speak on public-centred issues. I raise issues that are usually not taken up in the Parliament. Is it a mistake for me to speak on public issues? What wrong have I done?” Chadha asked in the message.

Chadha alleged that AAP had asked the Rajya Sabha secretariat to stop him from speaking in the House, a charge denied by the party.

“I am saying this today because AAP has asked the Rajya Sabha secretariat not to allow me to speak. Why would someone stop me from speaking? I speak on aam aadmi, airport food, gig workers, and middle-class tax burden. These issues helped common people. How does it affect AAP? Why would someone want to silence me? But I am not out,” Chadha said.

Reacting to his video, AAP’s Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj said it is “more important to talk about larger issues of the country rather than samosas”.

“For a long time, you have failed to raise issues questioning the Prime Minister or the Bharatiya Janata Party government. How will you sustain in politics if you are scared?” he asked Chadha.