'Gaddar dasso kaun?': Sidhu Moosewala's song on ‘traitors’ returns as jibe at AAP and Chadha

E-PaperSubscribeSubscribeEnjoy unlimited accessSubscribe Now! Get features like Barely a couple of hours after seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs led by Raghav Chadha announced their merger with the BJP, Balkaur Singh, father of slain Punjabi singer Moosewala, posted two lines on Facebook. 'Scapegoat' by the late Sidhu Moosewala has over 65 million views on YouTube as of April 24, 2026. (Photo: FB/@SidhuMooseWala)He offered no caption, no comment, no context as such. The lines, in Punjabi, were his son's verse from one of his last songs, ‘Scapegoat’: “Jo Raj Sabha hoeya, zimmvar dasso kaun? Hunn mainu loko oey gaddar dassso kaun?” — ‘Tell me who is responsible for what happened with the Rajya Sabha? Oh people, tell me now, who is the traitor?’ Below the lines, he gave attribution: “Written by Sidhu Moosewala, April 2022.” The song ‘Scapegoat’ was released on April 11, 2022, with music by Mxrci and lyrics written by Moosewala himself. It has over 65 million views on YouTube as of April 24, 2026. Also read | From just 2 MLAs to now six MPs: What Chadha-led rupture in AAP means for BJP in Punjab The song was released in the immediate aftermath of AAP's announcement of its Punjab Rajya Sabha nominations — a list that drew widespread criticism for including two non-Punjabis, Delhi-based Raghav Chadha and Chhattisgarh's Sandeep Pathak, alongside locals that included cricketer Harbhajan Singh and industrialists Ashok Kumar Mittal and Sanjeev Arora, who were seen as having limited political roots in the state. Moosewala, who was murdered allegedly by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang on May 29, 2022, as a fallout of misplaced rivalries, had contested the February 2022 assembly elections on a Congress ticket from Mansa. He had lost to AAP's Dr Vijay Singla by a wide margin of 63,323 votes. The song ‘Scapegoat’ was among his creations that were directly political and thus gained attention even beyond his already large fanbase. Also read | Centre tells ZEE5 not to release Lawrence Bishnoi documentary after Punjab Police says it poses 'risk to public order' The Raghav Chadha switch was not the first time the lines had been deployed in a political context by his father. In 2023, Balkaur Singh posted a reel on FB and Instagram based on ‘Scapegoat’ after Sandeep Pathak — one of the AAP MPs who defected on Friday — made statements suggesting that Haryana and Punjab should each get their rightful share of river water, a position widely seen in Punjab as conceding ground on the sensitive Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal issue. At the time, SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia also shared content using Moosewala's songs to attack AAP over the SYL issue, and the lines from ‘Scapegoat’ circulated widely as a shorthand charge of betrayal against the party. The AAP had said the statements were being misinterpreted. Six of the seven MPs who defected on Friday are from Punjab — the same state where the AAP got a massive win in 2022 (92 of 117 MLAs), and sent sent Chadha, Pathak and others to Parliament in the first place. Chadha, ethnically a Punjabi but a Delhi boy otherwise, has repeatedly said Punjab is “my soul” and not just a political talking point for him. His joining the BJP, which has never won power on its own in Punjab, comes just 10 months before the next Vidhan Sabha elections. CM Bhagwant Mann insisted on Friday that Chadha and the others were “gaddar” or traitors of Punjab. He said they could not even win a village election and had been nominated as the party wanted to bring in diverse voices. “There is no machine that can read minds. Tell me if there is… and if I can order one from Amazon!” Mann, a comic-turned-politician, remarked at a press conference in Chandigarh. Kejriwal's first reaction was one line, a post on X saying the BJP had betrayed Punjabis. Chadha said the AAP party is "no longer working for the country, but for personal gain”. He did not directly refer to corruption allegations related to the Delhi excise (liquor sales) policy case of 2023 in which Kejriwal and 22 others were recently discharged by a trial court. Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said, "The AAP has no ideology. This was natural. These MPs have no relevance in Punjab. AAP should remain aware — their 50 MLAs might join the BJP next! Only the MPs have left the party for now.” Aarish Chhabra is an Associate Editor with the Hindustan Times online team, writing news reports and explanatory articles, besides overseeing coverage for the website. His career spans nearly two decades across India's most respected newsrooms in print, digital, and broadcast. He has reported, written, and edited across formats — from breaking news and live election coverage, to analytical long-reads and cultural commentary — building a body of work that reflects both editorial rigour and a deep curiosity about the society he writes for. Aarish studied English literature, sociology and history, besides journalism, at Panjab University, Chandigarh, and started his career in that city, eventually moving to Delhi. He is also the author of ‘The Big Small Town: How Life Looks from Chandigarh’, a collection of critical essays originally serialised as a weekly column in the Hindustan Times, examining the culture and politics of a city that is far more than its famous architecture — and, in doing so, holding up a mirror to modern India. In stints at the BBC, The Indian Express, NDTV, and Jagran New Media, he worked across formats and languages; mainly English, also Hindi and Punjabi. He was part of the crack team for the BBC Explainer project replicated across the world by the broadcaster. At Jagran, he developed editorial guides and trained journalists on integrity and content quality. He has also worked at the intersection of journalism and education. At the Indian School of Business (ISB), Hyderabad, he developed a website that simplified academic research in management. At Bennett University's Times School of Media in Noida, he taught students the craft of digital journalism: from newsgathering and writing, to social media strategy and video storytelling. Having moved from a small town to a bigger town to a mega city for education and work, his intellectual passions lie at the intersection of society, politics, and popular culture — a perspective that informs both his writing and his view of the world. When not working, he is constantly reading long-form journalism or watching brainrot content, sometimes both at the same time.Read More