Raghav Chadha Dropped from AAP’s Rajya Sabha Leadership Post

In a significant organisational change, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has removed Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha from his leadership role in the Upper House, appointing Punjab MP Ashok Mittal as his replacement.

Party sources confirmed that a formal communication regarding the change has been sent to the Rajya Sabha secretariat.

The move comes at a time when Chadha has maintained a noticeable silence during key developments involving the party’s top leadership, fuelling speculation of an internal rift.

Chadha did not publicly react after a Delhi court cleared AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and others in the excise policy case earlier this year. His absence from major party events including a press conference by Kejriwal and a ‘jan sabha’ at Jantar Mantar further added to the buzz within political circles.

Currently, AAP has 10 members in the Rajya Sabha, including seven from Punjab and three from Delhi, making its presence in the Upper House largely dependent on its Punjab strength.

Raghav Chadha, a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, has been with the party since its inception in 2012, when he worked closely with Kejriwal on the Delhi Lokpal Bill. A chartered accountant by profession, he quickly rose through the ranks first as a national spokesperson and later as the party’s youngest treasurer following AAP’s victory in the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections.

He contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from South Delhi but lost to BJP’s Ramesh Bidhuri. However, he bounced back in 2020, winning the Rajendra Nagar Assembly seat in Delhi, after which he served as vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board.

In 2022, Chadha entered the Rajya Sabha at the age of 33, becoming one of the youngest members of the Upper House. Since then, he has played an important role in the party’s parliamentary strategy and organisational matters, working closely with senior leaders like Manish Sisodia and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. He has also been involved in coordinating efforts for the opposition INDIA bloc.

In 2023, AAP elevated him to a key leadership position in the Rajya Sabha, replacing Sanjay Singh. However, the latest reshuffle marks a shift in the party’s internal dynamics.

While the party has not officially stated the reasons behind Chadha’s removal, the timing of the decision combined with his recent low profile has sparked political speculation about possible differences within the leadership.