Mittal to replace Chadha as AAP dy leader in RS
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has written to the Rajya Sabha secretariat seeking removal of its MP Raghav Chadha as the party’s Deputy Leader in the House, and has proposed Punjab MP Ashok Mittal as his replacement. While the party has not officially disclosed the reason, the move has sparked discussions around internal dynamics and leadership shifts within AAP.
Chadha’s removal from the Deputy Leader position comes amid reports of internal differences within the party, and his absence from several public events led by AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal. AAP has formally informed the Rajya Sabha Secretariat about the change and has also requested that Chadha should not be allocated speaking time in the House.
The letter states that Chadha — who is also a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab — should not be allotted time for speaking in the House from the AAP’s quota.
AAP leaders said that the party leaders were not happy with Chadha as he had refused to toe the line of the party while moving an impeachment notice for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Besides, despite the AAP leaders, along with the opposition, boycotting the House, Chadha refused, saying he would speak during the zero hour. Recently, Chadha found praising Udaan Yatri Cafes at select airports.
Once considered a close confidant of Kejriwal and among the youngest MPs in the country, Chadha had played a key role in party affairs, particularly in Punjab and during the AAP’s tenure in Delhi. However, things have changed in recent months.
Chadha was abroad for medical reasons when Kejriwal, the then Delhi chief minister, was arrested in connection with the excise policy case in March 2024. He remained away during Kejriwal’s nearly six-month incarceration and met him only a few days after his release on September 13, 2024.
More recently, Chadha maintained silence when Kejriwal, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia and other AAP leaders were discharged by a Delhi court in the excise case last month. He also missed Kejriwal’s press conference and a rally at Jantar Mantar following the court’s relief.
Party leaders claimed Chadha has been increasingly sidelined from political campaigns and organisational matters of the party in other states, although he has been vocal inside and outside Parliament, raising issues such as high air fares and the condition of gig workers.
In the ongoing Budget Session of Parliament, he demanded a law to make paid paternity leave a legal right in India. He’s also actively raised consumer rights issues, calling for 30-day telecom tariff plans and greater flexibility in mobile data rollover and transfer.
Talking to reporters, Mittal said the party’s national convener has entrusted him with the role of AAP’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, and he will discharge his duties sincerely and present both the party’s stance and national interests forcefully in the House.
Downplaying the change, he termed it a routine process, noting that earlier ND Gupta was the deputy leader of the party in the Upper House, and then Chadha was given the responsibility.
“Now, I have been given this role. Our party wants all MPs to learn, and probably in that context, I have been given this role so that I can learn the processes and administrative skills in politics,” he said, adding that the party remains strong. The AAP currently has 10 members in the Rajya Sabha, including seven from Punjab and three from Delhi.
Chadha has been part of AAP since its inception. An alumnus of Delhi’s Modern School, he is a chartered accountant. Chadha met Kejriwal towards the last leg of the India Against Corruption movement when Kejriwal and others were debating whether or not to start a party. At 23, Chadha came on board as AAP was formed, and his first political task was to draft the Delhi Lokpal Bill.
Chadha became AAP’s face as its national spokesperson and regularly appeared on TV debates. He was appointed AAP’s national treasurer at 26. In the 2020 Delhi polls, Chadha was elected from the Rajinder Nagar seat and was appointed the vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board. In 2022, he was named AAP’s Rajya Sabha pick.
