Chandigarh/New Delhi, April 4 -- A day after the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) removed Raghav Chadha as its deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday termed him "compromised", even as the MP said he had been "silenced, not defeated", triggering a sharp exchange within the party and political reactions across the spectrum. Chadha has been a Rajya Sabha member from Punjabsince April 2022. Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, Mann defended the party's decision to strip Chadha of his deputy leader status in the upper house, saying he had been avoiding speaking on important issues or following the party line against the central government in Parliament. "If he is unwilling to speak on matters such as the deletion of votes in West Bengal, raise his voice against the Gujarat government registering FIRs against AAP leaders, MSP and the withholding of funds of Punjab, and instead focuses on issues like samosas being sold at a higher price at the airport or pizza delivery, then isn't that going against the party whip?" he asked in response to a query regarding Chadha's claim that he was being "silenced". The Punjab CM added that the MP's recent conduct suggested he was speaking from "another station". "In that case, action should be taken," he asserted. When asked whether he believed Chadha was compromised, Mann replied in the affirmative. Earlier in the day, Chadha posted on X, "Silenced, not defeated." In a video posted along with the text, he said, "Whenever I got a chance to speak in the Parliament, I have raised people's issues. Have I committed a crime by raising people's issues? I am asking this question today because the AAP has written to the Rajya Sabha not to give me a chance to speak." He also warned that his silence should not be seen as a defeat. Chadha's remarks triggered a flurry of reactions from AAP leaders, who accused him of focusing on trivial issues and being scared to speak against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Atishi questioned Chadha's silence on what she described as "pressing national concerns." In a video, she asked why he had not raised issues such as the alleged misuse of institutions and the ongoing LPG shortage. "Today, our nation is passing through an immense crisis. yet you are not raising any questions. Why are you seemingly afraid to speak out against it?" she said. She alleged that Chadha had declined to support an impeachment motion against the Chief Election Commissioner. Atishi said Chadha had "stayed away" when the party itself was going through a crisis. "When our leader Arvind Kejriwal was arrested, we hit the streets protesting. We were arrested and thrown in police stations across the city. At that time, you went to London for an apparent eye surgery for months," she said. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), meanwhile, used the spat to criticise the AAP's functioning. Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said, "Dialogue and democracy within AAP have completely ended. When a senior MP is forced to use social media platforms to express his views within his own party, it reflects a deeply troubling condition," he said. The developments follow AAP's decision on Thursday to replace Chadha with Ashok Kumar Mittal as the party's deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha. In recent months, Chadha has raised issues including toll charges, food adulteration, gig workers' rights and pricing at airport canteens - matters that AAP leaders have termed "soft PR" issues, while accusing him of avoiding politically contentious subjects.He is the second Rajya Sabha MP from the party, after Swati Maliwal, to face internal differences with the leadership in recent times....