'Hostages with Helmets': Raghav Chadha Defends Support for Gig Workers’ Strike Amid Criticism

Aam Admi Party MP Raghav Chadha has defended his support of gig workers who had called for a strike earlier this week. Chadha called the delivery agents, "hostages with helmets". The gig workers' strike on

December 31, 2025, saw over 200,000 delivery workers across different platforms unitedly demanding better payments and social security benefits. The unions of these delivery workers have called the whole system "exploitative". The AAP MP criticised the platforms for labelling striking workers as miscreants, saying that he was happy his Parliamentary intervention had sparked a debate."Delivery partners across India went on strike demanding basic dignity, fair pay, safety, predictable rules and social security. The response from the Platform was to call them "miscreants" and turn a labour demand into a law & order narrative. That is not just insulting, it is dangerous. Workers asking for fair pay are not criminals. And if your system needs police to keep running on its biggest day, that is not proof the system works. That is an admission it doesn't. If you needed police to have your workers stay on the road, they're not employees. They're hostages with helmets. I am glad my intervention in Parliament has started a nationwide debate," he posted as part of a lengthy post on X.The AAP MP said he was pro-business but against what he called was exploitation. "I am pro-business and pro-startups. I have stood for innovation and entrepreneurship in Parliament. India needs its builders and risk-takers. I will always back them. But I will never back exploitation dressed as progress...Success cannot be built by squeezing the last ounce out of the people doing the hardest work. And apparently asking for fair pay is politics now. Strange how everything becomes 'political agenda' the moment it threatens margins or stock prices," he posted"When one day's income decides rent, electricity, or a child's school fee, logging in on a strike day is not approval, it is survival. It is desperation. People remain trapped when better options do not exist. And please don't sell people a distant dream to justify a present injustice. Promising that workers' children will do better someday is not an answer to exploitation today. Record order numbers do not measure dignity. Lakhs of orders is a business metric, not a moral one," he added.The AAP MP also alleged that board members of platforms had mounted a coordinated effort to criticise his reach out to gig workers."I would have preferred a healthy discussion on pay, safety, and protections. What came instead was coordinated noise. Within hours, identical talking points flooded our feeds. Board members who never discuss labour discovered social media. Influencers with no history of caring about workers began posting defences. As if someone had sent out a script. I have been in this long enough to recognise a paid campaign when I see one. To those in the Platforms making personal calls and sending messages requesting for tweets in their favour: your efforts reached me before your tweets did," he said.Chadha who had raised the issue of compensation for gig workers in the Rajya Sabha also took a dig at those who had chosen to target his personal lifestyle."My life is transparent. I wonder if the same can be said for the algorithms that decide a worker's pay. Do not waste time debating my lifestyle. Focus on improving the lifestyle of gig workers. I have been fortunate and that's exactly why I will use my position to raise these demands. If we have been given more, our duty is to demand fairness for those who are given less. Stop polarising a basic issue. The question is simple. Will we build India's growth on dignity and safety, or on pressure and insecurity?" he said.Chadha concluded by asking for the gig workers to be treated better by platforms."Progress is whether the people who make the system run can live with dignity. This is a fight I will see through. In Parliament. Outside Parliament. Until there is accountability. The workers who built these platforms order by order, kilometre by kilometre, deserve better than to be called "miscreants" for asking to be treated as human beings," he said.Chadha's long X post follows a series of posts from Sanjeev Bikhchandani, founder of Naukri.com and Non-Executive Director of Eternal (Zomato), who questioned those behind the recent call for gig workers to strike. Bikhchandani stated that discussions concerning delivery partner compensation and welfare remain a priority for the company's management and board, while taking a jab at the people who called for the strike.