# Raghav Chadha

Raghav Chadha (born 11 November 1988) is an Indian politician and a member of the Aam Aadmi Party, who is serving as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian parliament. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha by the Punjab Legislative Assembly in 2022. He served as the former Vice Chairman of the Delhi Jal Board and a Member of the Delhi Legislative Assembly from the Rajendra Nagar constituency from 2020 till 2022. He is also a working chartered accountant.

## Early life

Born on 11 November 1988 in New Delhi, Chadha received his school education from Modern School (New Delhi) and graduated from University of Delhi (DU). He then pursued Chartered Accountancy from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. In his early career he worked with accountancy firms including Deloitte, and Grant Thornton.

## Political career

Chadha has been a part of the Aam Aadmi Party since its inception. Arvind Kejriwal encouraged him in drafting the Delhi Lokpal Bill in 2012, which was also his first political task. He established himself as the AAP's TV face and also became the youngest national spokesperson of the AAP and one of the youngest across parties.
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, terminated his appointment as an advisor to Manish Sisodia along with 9 other advisors.

### Lok Sabha Election

In 2019, Chadha contested from the South Delhi Lok Sabha constituency for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He lost in the elections to the BJP candidate, Ramesh Bidhuri. Since the 1980s, South Delhi has been a BJP stronghold and represented by stalwarts like Madan Lal Khurana, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Sushma Swaraj and Ramesh Bidhuri as well as Balraj Madhok of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the ideological and political predecessor of BJP.
In 2020, as a leader of AAP, Chadha was appointed AAP Punjab co-in-charge for the Punjab Legislative Assembly election in 2022, playing a crucial role in the party's eventual landslide victory, where AAP won 92 out of 117 seats.

### MLA in Delhi Vidhan Sabha

In February 2020, Chadha contested from Rajendra Nagar in the 2020 Delhi Legislative Assembly election and won against BJP's candidate RP Singh with a margin of 20,058 votes. He polled a massive 57.06% of the total votes. Following the elections, he was appointed vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and where he focused on providing clean, 24x7 piped water supply and cleaning the Yamuna River, significantly improving Delhi's water management systems.

### MP in Rajya Sabha

On 21 March 2022, it was announced that Chadha along with four others were nominated by AAP for the post of Rajya Sabha members from Punjab for a six-year term starting 2022. No opposition candidate opposed their election. 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.
In April 2022, Chadha said that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) settled Bangladeshi people and Rohingyas in Delhi and uses them to cause riots.
Credited with the party's success in Punjab, on 18 September 2022, Chadha was appointed co-in-charge for the 2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly election. He is appointed as a leader of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Rajya Sabha.
In the wake of Sanjay Singh, the Floor Leader of the AAP in the Rajya Sabha, being unable to discharge his responsibilities while in judicial custody, the party leader and Delhi CM Kejriwal, had 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.

### 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.

## Personal life

Chadha engaged actress Parineeti Chopra, on 13 May 2023 at Kapurthala House in New Delhi. Chadha married Chopra on 24 September 2023 at The Leela Palace, Udaipur, Rajasthan in a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony. Chadha has been in 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.

## Controversies

On 8 August 2023, five MPs claimed that their names were mentioned on the proposal to send the Delhi NCR Amendment Bill to the Select Committee without their consent, by a motion moved by Raghav Chadha. They accused Chadha of forgery and breach of privilege. On 11 August, Chadha was suspended from the Rajya Sabha, for "Gross Violation Of Rules".

## Electoral performance

2019 Indian general elections: South Delhi :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | BJP | Ramesh Bidhuri | 687,014 | 56.58 | 11.41 |
| | AAP | Raghav Chadha | 3,19,971 | 26.35 | 9.12 |
| | INC | Vijender Singh | 1,64,613 | 13.56 | 2.20 |
| | NOTA | None of the Above | 5,264 | 0.43 | 0.07 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,67,043 | 30.23 | 20.53 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 12,14,545 | 58.75 | 4.22 |
| | BJP hold | BJP hold | Swing | 11.41 | |
Delhi Assembly elections, 2020: Rajinder Nagar :
| Party | 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 | 3,941 | 3.80 | −4.00 |
| | NOTA | None of the above | 467 | 0.45 | +0.04 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 20,058 | 19.36 | +1.91 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 1,03,675 | 58.50 | −9.80 |
| Registered electors | Registered electors | Registered electors | 1,77,867 | | |
| | AAP hold | AAP hold | Swing | +3.67 | |