Amid ongoing speculations over Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha’s prolonged absence from the political battlefield amid Kejriwal’s arrest, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said the Rajya Sabha MP underwent a major eye surgery in the UK.

Bharadwaj said Chadha’s condition was critical and there was a possibility of him losing his eyesight.

“There was a complication in his eyes, and I was told that it was quite critical that he might have lost his eyesight as well. He has undergone major eye surgery in the UK,” the AAP leader told the media on Tuesday.

“As soon as he gets better, he (Chadha) will come back to India and join us in the election campaigning,” he further said.

Also Read: AAP’s Raghav Chadha replaces jailed Sanjay Singh as Rajya Sabha Leader

Raghav Chadha’s absence has been conspicuous amid a series of setbacks to the Aam Aadmi Party, especially the arrest of party supremo and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor policy case. Chadha, a close aide of Kejriwal who handled important departments in the party and led the party’s attacks on political rivals, has been in London since last month for eye surgery.

While Chadha’s wife, actor Parineeti Chopra, returned ahead of the release of her movie, Amar Singh Chamkila, he stayed in London. The delay in his return has fuelled speculation about his political future.

A week after Kejriwal’s arrest on March 21, BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya, said, “MP Raghav Chadha is in London, apparently for an eye surgery [what happened to Delhi’s mohalla clinics and health model?], but has been in the news for meeting people inimical to India’s interest. What is interesting is that Parineeti Chopra, who was also in London, has returned, but Chadha hasn’t. One would have thought she would have wanted to be around, at a time when he was being operated on. But looks like she has other important things on mind. Or is the surgery just an excuse to stay away?”

Also Read: AAP’s request to appoint Raghav Chadha as party’s interim leader in Rajya Sabha rejected

Commenting on Chadha’s absence, Sunil Jakhar, Punjab BJP chief on March 18, said, “In this politically charged atmosphere, lots of reasons are being attributed to the intriguing absence of Raghav Chadha. The silence of Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann on this has only lent credence to such insinuations.”

Raghav Chadha is among the 40 star campaigners named by AAP along with jailed AAP leaders Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain. Others who are on the list include Sunita Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and Rajya Sabha MPs Sanjay Singh and Sandeep Pathak.

(With inputs from agencies)