Wikipedia

Raghav Chadha

Raghav Chadha (born 11 November 1988) is an Indian politician and chartered accountant who serves as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha since 2022.[4] He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Rajinder Nagar constituency in Delhi from 2020 to 2022.[5][6] Formerly an outspoken member of the Aam Aadmi Party from 2012 to 2026, Chadha defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in April 2026. This came at the heels of him previously decrying the BJP as a "party of illiterate goons" and patron of criminals.[7]

Raghav Chadha
Chadha in 2019
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office
10 April 2022
Preceded byNaresh Gujral
ConstituencyPunjab
Vice Chairman of the Delhi Jal Board
In office
2 March 2020[1][2] – 22 March 2022
Preceded byDinesh Mohaniya
Succeeded bySaurabh Bharadwaj
Member of Delhi Legislative Assembly
In office
12 February 2020 – 24 March 2022
Preceded byVijender Garg Vijay
Succeeded byDurgesh Pathak
ConstituencyRajinder Nagar
Personal details
Born (1988-11-11) 11 November 1988 (age 37)
Central Delhi, Delhi, India
PartyBharatiya Janata Party (since 2026)
Other political
affiliations
Aam Aadmi Party (2012–2026)
Spouse
​
(m. 2023)​
Children1
University of Delhi
Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
London School of Economics[3]
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionChartered accountant

Early life

Born on 11 November 1988 in Central Delhi, Chadha attended Modern School in New Delhi and earned his bachelor's degree in commerce from the University of Delhi in 2009. He then pursued Chartered Accountancy from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in 2011.[8] In his early career, he worked with accountancy firms such as Deloitte and Grant Thornton.[6]

Political career

Chadha served as a founding member of the Aam Aadmi Party since its inception.[9] Arvind Kejriwal encouraged him in drafting the Delhi Lokpal Bill in 2012, which was also constituted his maiden political endeavour.[10] He established himself as the AAP's face on television and also became the youngest national spokesperson of the AAP and one of the youngest across parties.[10]

When AAP won the 2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly election with a majority, Chadha, at the age of 26, was appointed AAP's national treasurer. In April 2018, the then Union Minister of Home Affairs, Rajnath Singh, whose party BJP is a staunch adversary of Chadha's AAP, terminated his appointment as an advisor to Manish Sisodia, along with that of 9 other advisors.[11]

2019 Lok Sabha election

In 2019, Chadha contested from the South Delhi Lok Sabha constituency for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He conceded victory to the BJP candidate Ramesh Bidhuri.[12][13] Since the 1980s, South Delhi has been a BJP stronghold and represented by individuals like Madan Lal Khurana, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Sushma Swaraj and Ramesh Bidhuri as well as Balraj Madhok of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the ideological and political predecessor of BJP.[14]

In 2020, as a leader of AAP, Chadha was appointed AAP Punjab co-in-charge for the then upcoming Punjab Legislative Assembly election in 2022, playing a crucial role in the party's eventual landslide victory. AAP won 92 out of 117 seats.[15][16]

MLA in the Delhi Legislative Assembly

In February 2020, Chadha contested from Rajinder Nagar in the 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election and won against BJP candidate RP Singh with a margin of 20,058 votes. He polled 57.06% of the total votes.[17]

MP in the Rajya Sabha

On 21 March 2022, AAP announced the nomination of Chadha and four other individuals as the Rajya Sabha members from Punjab for a six-year term starting in 2022.[18] No opposition candidate opposed their election.[19] This made him the youngest Indian Rajya Sabha MP ever at the age of 33. He was also appointed as a member of the Parliament's Standing Committee on Finance in Rajya Sabha. The committee oversees the laws and policies drafted by three union ministries and the NITI Aayog.[20]

In April 2022, Chadha claimed that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) settled Bangladeshi people and Rohingyas in Delhi and uses them to trigger riots.[21]

Credited with the party's success in Punjab, Chadha was appointed co-in-charge for the 2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election on 18 September 2022.[22] Following his appointment to the Rajya Sabha, he was designated the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party in the upper house.[23]

In the wake of Sanjay Singh, who served as the floor leader of the AAP in the Rajya Sabha, becoming incapacitated owing to his inability discharge his responsibilities while in judicial custody under politically-coloured charges, the party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requested the chairman of Rajya Sabha to appoint Chadha as AAP's interim leader of the House in early December 2023. However, the request was turned down, as the request reportedly was not in conformity with the applicable legal regime governed by The Leaders and Chief Whips of Recognised Parties and Groups in Parliament (Facilities) Act, 1998 and the Rules made thereunder.[24]

Advisor to the Chief Minister of Punjab

After AAP's victory in Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann appointed Chadha as the chairman of an advisory panel. A plea challenging his appointment was struck down by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.[25]

In May 2023, media reports emerged that Chadha's name was mentioned in Enforcement Directorate's (ED) second supplementary chargesheet in the money laundering case pertaining to the 2022 Delhi liquor policy case. Chadha immediately held a press conference in New Delhi to strongly refute the claims, calling the media reports “factually wrong” and part of a “propaganda” to harm his reputation and credibility.[26][27][28][29][30]

In April 2024, Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Amritsar North and former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, made serious allegations against his party's senior leader, Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha. During a rally in Amritsar, Singh accused Chadha of having close associations with at least two Punjab Police officers allegedly involved in supporting the drug trade in the city, describing them as Chadha's blue-eyed boys.[31] In response to the controversy, the AAP suspended Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh from the party for five years, citing anti-party activities.[32]

Removal as Deputy Leader and defection to the Bharatiya Janata Party

On 2 April 2026, AAP removed Chadha from the post of its deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, replacing him with Punjab MP Ashok Kumar Mittal. This was said to be the result of Chadha's prolonged absence from key party events and silence on sensitive issues.[33][34][35]

Amid speculations, Chadha defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party on 24 April 2026, along with 6 other AAP MPs of the Rajya Sabha, despite having previously referred to the BJP as a party of illiterate goons and lumpen elements.[36][37][38] The AAP criticised the defection, accusing the BJP of engaging in Operation Lotus.[39]

Positions held

Positions Held
DurationPosition[40]
February 2020 – March 2022 Member, Delhi Legislative Assembly
(Rajinder Nagar Assembly constituency)
Chairman, Committee on Petitions
Delhi Legislative Assembly
Chairman, Committee on Peace and Harmony
Delhi Legislative Assembly
Vice Chairman
Delhi Jal Board
Member, Business Advisory Committee
Delhi Legislative Assembly
Member, Committee on Ethics
Delhi Legislative Assembly
Member, Committee on Salary and Other Allowances of
Members of Delhi Legislative Assembly
April 2022 Elected to Rajya Sabha
September 2022 – June 2024 Member, Committee on Finance
November 2022 – October 2024 Member, Committee on Subordinate Legislation
September 2024 – September 2025 Member, Committee on Housing and Urban Affairs
October 2024 – present Member, Committee on
Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme
Member, Committee on Papers Laid on the Table
Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Defence
September 2025 – present Member, Committee on External Affairs

Personal life

Chadha got engaged to actress Parineeti Chopra, on 13 May 2023 at Kapurthala House in New Delhi.[41] They were married on 24 September 2023 at The Leela Palace, Udaipur, Rajasthan in a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony.[42][43] The couple welcomed their first child, a boy, on 19 October 2025.[44]

In 2024, Chadha went to London to undergo a vitrectomy surgery. When asked about his long absence, his party colleague Saurabh Bhardwaj claimed that he could have lost eyesight if not for timely operation.[45]

Electoral performance

2019 Indian general elections: South Delhi
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
BJP Ramesh Bidhuri 687,014 56.58 Increase11.41
AAP Raghav Chadha 3,19,971 26.35 Decrease9.12
INC Vijender Singh 1,64,613 13.56 Increase2.20
NOTA None of the Above 5,264 0.43 Increase0.07
Majority 3,67,043 30.23 Increase20.53
Turnout 12,14,545 58.75 Decrease4.22
BJP hold Swing Increase11.41
Delhi Assembly elections, 2020: Rajinder Nagar
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
AAP Raghav Chadha 59,135 57.06 +3.67
BJP R. P. Singh 39,077 37.70 +1.76
INC Rocky Tuseed 4,041 4.60 −4.00
NOTA None of the above 467 0.45 +0.04
Majority 20,058 19.36 +1.91
Turnout 1,03,675 58.50 −9.80
Registered electors 1,77,867
AAP hold Swing +3.67

References

  1. ↑ "AAP MLA Raghav Chadha Appointed Delhi Jal Board Vice Chairman". 2 March 2020.
  2. ↑ "Raghav Chadha takes charge as Vice Chairman of Delhi Jal Board" (PDF) (Press release). Delhi Jal Board. 3 March 2020. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2022.
  3. ↑ "LSE confirming completion of Raghav Chadha's studies at LSE". South Asia@LSE. 30 March 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2024.
  4. ↑ "Raghav Chadha Officially Elected to Rajya Sabha as MP".
  5. ↑ "Delhi's water supply situation to improve soon: Jal Board VC Raghav Chadha". LiveMint. Press Trust of India. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Who is Raghav Chadha". Business Standard. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  7. ↑ "'Party of illiterate goons': Raghav Chadha's old video slamming BJP goes viral after he joins party — watch". The Times of India. 24 April 2026. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 5 June 2026.
  8. ↑ "Raghav Chadha, Rajya Sabha Affidavits (ver_6) - Affidavit Information of Candidate". myneta.info. Retrieved 5 April 2026.
  9. ↑ "School debate champ, AAP spokesperson & now Rajya Sabha MP: Tracing the rise of Raghav Chadha". ThePrint. 26 March 2022.
  10. 1 2 "AAP's Raghav Chadha made Punjab unit's co-incharge".
  11. ↑ "Sacked AAP adviser Raghav Chadha refunds Rs 2.5 salary to home ministry". Business Standard India. 18 April 2018 – via Business Standard.
  12. ↑ "Lok Sabha Election result: In South Delhi, BJP candidate Ramesh Bidhuri marches ahead, and Raghav Chadha distant second". 23 May 2019.
  13. ↑ "Raghav Chadha's decade in politics: From volunteer at anti-corruption movement to youngest Rajya Sabha member". The Indian Express. 24 March 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2022.
  14. ↑ Dutta, Arnab (10 May 2019). "South Delhi: Congress, Aam Aadmi Party all guns blazing in BJP's den". Business Standard India.
  15. ↑ "Ruckus in AAP leader Raghav Chadha's press conference in Jalandhar over ticket distribution". India Today. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  16. ↑ "Punjab: Unhappy over ticket distribution, Raghav Chadha shown black flags". India Today. 8 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  17. ↑ "AAP's Raghav Chadha wins from Rajinder Nagar with a margin of 20,085 votes". 11 February 2020.
  18. ↑ "AAP's Rajya Sabha List: Ex Cricketer, IIT Professor, Raghav Chadha". NDTV. 21 March 2022.
  19. ↑ "All five nominees of AAP from Punjab elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha". newsonair.gov.in. 24 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  20. ↑ "AAP's Raghav Chadha, Youngest In Rajya Sabha, Now Part Of Finance Panel".
  21. ↑ "'Bangladeshis & Rohingyas': AAP and BJP find common ground to target each other". Millennium Post. 21 April 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  22. ↑ "Raghav Chadha appointed AAP's Gujarat co-incharge for Assembly election". The Hindu. 18 September 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  23. ↑ "Raghav Chadha New AAP Rajya Sabha Leader, Replaces Jailed Sanjay Singh".
  24. ↑ "Rajya Sabha chairman declines AAP's request to appoint Raghav Chadha as party's interim leader in House". The Telegraph Online. Press Trust of India. 29 December 2023. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  25. ↑ "Punjab: Why Raghav Chadha's Appointment as Advisor by AAP Govt Is Drawing Flak".
  26. ↑ "Another Rift In AAP? Decoding Raghav Chadha Episode And Party's Past Fault Lines". News 18. Retrieved 4 April 2026.
  27. ↑ "AAP's Blue-Eyed Boy to Political Afterthought: What Happened to Raghav". The Quint. Retrieved 4 April 2026.
  28. ↑ "Delhi liquor policy case: AAP's Raghav Chadha named in ED's supplementary chargesheet". The Telegraph. Retrieved 4 April 2026.
  29. ↑ "Delhi excise policy case: Raghav Chadha named in ED supplementary chargesheet". Awaz. Retrieved 4 April 2026.
  30. ↑ "Raghav Chadha's name mentioned in ED's Delhi excise policy chargesheet; AAP MP reacts". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 4 April 2026.
  31. ↑ Sethi, Chitleen K. (20 April 2024). "Cops linked to Raghav Chadha 'supporting drug trade' — AAP MLA's accusations spark firestorm in Punjab". ThePrint. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  32. ↑ "AAP suspends Punjab MLA Kunwar Vijay for 5 years after he opposes arrest of SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia". The Indian Express. 29 June 2025. Retrieved 7 September 2025.
  33. ↑ "AAP drops Raghav Chadha in surprise shake-up". MSN. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  34. ↑ "AAP removes Raghav Chadha". The Times of India. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  35. ↑ "Why Raghav Chadha lost AAP's trust: Inside the disconnect between party, Arvind Kejriwal's former protégé". Indian Express. Retrieved 3 April 2026.
  36. ↑ Nair, Sobhana K. (3 May 2026). "Raghav Chadha | The prodigy who walked away". The Hindu.
  37. ↑ "Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal join BJP after quitting AAP". India Today. 24 April 2026. Archived from the original on 24 April 2026. Retrieved 24 April 2026.
  38. ↑ "'Party of illiterate goons': Raghav Chadha's old video slamming BJP goes viral after he joins party". The Times of India.
  39. ↑ Mishra, Soni (13 May 2026). "The broom needs cleaning too". Frontline.
  40. ↑ https://sansad.in/rs/members
  41. ↑ "Parineeti Chopra gets engaged to Raghav Chadha, shares first pics: 'Everything I prayed for'". The Indian Express. 13 May 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  42. ↑ "Parineeti Chopra and Raghav Chadha wedding live updates: Raagrina done with pheras, are now married". Hindustan Times. 24 September 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  43. ↑ "Parineeti Chopra and Raghav Chadha are now married!". The Times of India. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  44. ↑ "It's a boy! Parineeti Chopra and Raghav Chadha welcome their first child together". The Times of India. 19 October 2025. Archived from the original on 19 October 2025. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  45. ↑ "AAP leader on Raghav Chadha: 'Could have lost eyesight, had surgery in UK'". India Today. 30 April 2024. Retrieved 30 April 2024.

Further reading

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