New Delhi (India) April 2:The Aam Aadmi Party has written a letter to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat to remove Raghav Chadha from the position of deputy leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha. Besides that, the party has also asked that Chadha should not be given speaking time out of the AAP quota in the Rajya Sabha, hinting at a major change in their parliamentary strategy. AAP has recommended Ashok Mittal as the new deputy leader in the Upper House and asked the secretariat to confirm the appointment as soon as possible.

No Official Reason for Change

This move of the day made a lot of noise and raised questions about Chadha's future who has been part of AAP's top leadership and closely associated with Kejriwal. Officially, AAP has not given any reason for what appears to be Chadha's demotion, but the whispers regarding his position within the party have been going around for quite some time. 

In fact, Chadha not only was missing from various party functions but also when the issue of giving a clean chit to Kejriwal and AAP leader Manish Sisodia came up, he kept quiet which led to speculations in the corridors of power. On the other hand, he has been highlighting major problems in the Rajya Sabha like sky-high food prices at airports, rights of gig workers, and traffic jams in big cities.

Mittal: Routine Shift, Ready to Lead

Mittal said that the party's national convener has given him the responsibility of AAP's deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, and he will perform his work sincerely and show both party's viewpoint and national issues strongly.
He downplayed the change, calling it a usual event and also highlighted that in past N.D. Gupta was the party deputy leader in the Upper House, then the responsibility was given to Mr. Chadha.

Chadha's Rise from Spokesperson to MP

Raghav Chadha, who is Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab. He started out working with Arvind Kejriwal on the Delhi Lokpal Bill in 2012. He made progress in the party, and became national spokesperson and later youngest treasurer of the party after 2015 Delhi polls when AAP won the elections.
In 2022, Chadha became the youngest Rajya Sabha MP at 33 and since then he has been a major figure in AAP's parliamentary and organisational workings. In 2023, AAP announced him as its leader in Rajya Sabha, replacing Sanjay Singh.