New Delhi, April 3 (AHN) Widening the rift within the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), its Delhi President Saurabh Bharadwaj on Friday hit back at MP Raghav Chadha following the latter's sharp-worded response after he was replaced by MP Ashok Mittal as Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha, asserting that Chadha was sent to the upper house to raise issues of Punjab while also accusing him of being "scared to walkout" with the Opposition.

"I do not think Raghav Chadha needed to get so upset that he has almost opened a front against the party," Bhardwaj said.

While maintaining that it was not a big issue, Bharadwaj told AHN that the party had "objections on several grounds".

He highlighted that Chadha was "not sent to the Lok Sabha by the people".

"He (Chadha) was sent to the Rajya Sabha by the party so that he could raise issues related to Punjab in the house. It was his responsibility to raise the issues of lakhs of farmers in Punjab," he said.

Listing the issues that, according to him, Chadha should have raised in the House, Bharadwaj said: "Crores of rupees of the farmers are being held by the Central government. Money under MNREGA is also being held back, and so are the dues of the Punjab government. He (Chadha) should have raised those issues there (in the Rajya Sabha)."

The AAP Delhi President further accused the Rajya Sabha member of being "scared" to sign the impeachment motion against the Chief Election Commissioner.

"Lakhs of voters are being deleted in various states due to SIR (Special Intensive Revision). Fake voters are being made. Elections are being won through deception. Amid this, he was scared to sign the impeachment motion against the Chief Election Commissioner. He did not sign."

He also alleged that Chadha was "scared" to stage a walkout with the Opposition leaders.

"When the Opposition stages a walkout on a national issue, he gets scared and keeps sitting (in the House), not even able to walk out. If I look at his X timeline, leave PM Modi, he has not even used 'BJP'. Politics cannot function through such fear," he said.

Bharadwaj asserted that one needs to be "brave" in politics.

Moreover, he advised Chadha "to do politics concerning issues".

Further, Bharadwaj accused the BJP of being involved in petty things rather than focusing on genuine issues.

"The real issue is that today we don't have gas (LPG) due to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's foreign policy. Tariffs have been imposed on the country due to PM Modi's attitude. We had to agree on a ceasefire with Pakistan. These are the issues which should be raised," he said.