AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal with party leader Raghav Chadha (PTI Photo)
NEW DELHI: Once a trusted aide of former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and a key figure in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Raghav Chadha has recently appeared sidelined, with his absence from public events and silence on key issues fuelling speculation about his role in the party.Chadha, who previously served as the party’s national spokesperson, has not been seen at several recent appearances alongside Kejriwal.
His silence on issues raised by senior leaders has also drawn attention.The first signs of a possible rift emerged in March 2024, when Kejriwal was arrested in connection with the excise policy case. Chadha was notably absent at the time due to medical reasons.While the party said he was abroad for medical reasons, his prolonged absence and lack of public engagement raised questions.Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said, “It is now clear that Raghav Chadha is separate from the Aam Aadmi Party. People realised this long ago, when he went to London while Kejriwal was arrested. Public perception now is that Chadha will leave or be removed from the party and join elsewhere.”More recently, Chadha did not comment after Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and others were discharged in the excise case. He also skipped key party events, including a press conference and a rally at Jantar Mantar.
Here’s what happened
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has informed the Rajya Sabha Secretariat that Ashok Kumar Mittal will be its new deputy leader in the Upper House, the party said on Thursday.Mittal replaces Raghav Chadha in the role.A Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, Mittal was elected to the House in April 2022 and has since served on several parliamentary committees, including the Committee on Defence and the Committee on Finance. In February 2026, he was also made a member of the India-US Parliamentary Friendship Group.He was part of an all-party delegation led by Kanimozhi that visited Russia, Latvia, Slovenia, Greece and Spain after the Pahalgam terror attack last year.Chadha has also been a Member of Parliament since April 2022 and has made headlines on several occasions for raising public issues in Parliament.Last month, Chadha raised concerns over the practice of “sarpanch pati” or “panchayat pati”, where women elected to reserved panchayat seats often serve as figureheads while real power is exercised by their male relatives. He urged the government to ensure that women representatives in local bodies can exercise genuine authority as intended under the 73rd Constitutional Amendment.He had also raised the issue of menstrual hygiene in Parliament, stating that it is a matter of health, education and equality, which affects over 35 crore women and girls in India. Chadha said if a girl misses school because there are no sanitary pads, water, and privacy, it is not her personal problem but a collective failure. He added that society has turned a biological fact into a social taboo.Amid the gig workers’ agitation earlier this year, he had spent a day as a delivery partner to understand firsthand the pressure and challenges associated with the job.
