‘Champagne Socialist…Aam Aadmi my foot,’ Sanjeev Bikhchandani takes a dig at Raghav Chadha, backs Deepinder Goyal, defending gig economy

Prominent investor and Naukri.com founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani backed Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal’s defence of the gig economy. He even took an apparent dig at the AAP MP Raghav Chadha without naming him. 

Sanjeev Bikhchandani backs Zomato CEO Deepinder Goyal

“Very well written @deepigoyal Every word is true,” Bikhchandani commented. “It beggars belief that a Champagne Socialist who married a film star and had a designer wedding in Udaipur and a first wedding anniversary in Maldives  has the audacity to then shed crocodile tears around alleged exploitation of gig workers. Aam Aadmi my foot,” he added.

Earlier, Goyal had defended the gig economy, arguing that it shattered centuries of invisibility for labourers, stating that, for the first time, workers, delivery partners, riders, and others interact directly with consumers on a large scale.

He claimed that it makes inequality personal, which is why the gig economy sparks discomfort and heated debates.

Goyal said that in the pre-gig era, the wealthy enjoyed luxury without guilt because labour was out of sight. Today, every delivery points at “systemic inequality”.

The Zomato boss reasoned that some people defend the system as “they choose it”, meanwhile, others demand change, terming it as exploitation. 

“And here’s the uncomfortable twist: the unsaid ask of clumsy ‘solutions’ isn’t dignity. It is about returning to invisibility,” Deepinder Goyal wrote on X.

“Ban gig work and you don’t solve inequality. You remove livelihoods. These jobs don’t magically reappear as formal, protected employment the next day,” he added.

Very well written @deepigoyal Every word is true. It beggars belief that a Champagne Socialist who married a film star and had a designer wedding in Udaipur and a first wedding anniversary in Maldives has the audacity to then shed crocodile tears around alleged exploitation of… https://t.co/pgcTa0hwKy

— Sanjeev Bikhchandani (@sbikh) January 2, 2026

What actually happened?

On Wednesday, the Platform-based delivery workers affiliated with the Indian Federation of App-Based Transport Workers (IFAT) observed a nationwide strike, protesting against unfair working conditions, low wages, and the absence of social security, intending to disrupt delivery services during peak hours.

Earlier, Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MP Raghav restated his call to ban 10-minute delivery apps, claiming that the quick commerce companies have been oppressing gig workers.

“In today’s time, Swiggy Zomato delivery boys, Blinkit Zepto riders, Ola Uber drivers, are a workforce on the back of which these big companies have become unicorns; they have got billion-dollar valuations. In this entire ecosystem that has been created, if there’s one group of people who are oppressed and under immense pressure, it’s the gig workers,” the AAP MP said during an exclusive interview with ANI.

As part of improving working conditions and rights for workers, Chadha has proposed setting working hours for gig and platform delivery workers to end the practice of people working 14-16 hours a day for incentives.

Also read: This techie couple got laid off from US jobs 15 days after marriage, but how managers broke the news changed their outlook (startuppedia.in)