Raghav Chadha
Chadha in 2023
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Assumed office
2 May 2022
Preceded byNaresh Gujral
ConstituencyPunjab
Member of the Delhi Legislative Assembly
In office
12 February 2020 – 24 March 2022
Preceded byVijender Garg Vijay
Succeeded byDurgesh Pathak
ConstituencyRajinder Nagar
Vice Chairman of the Delhi Jal Board
In office
2 March 2020[1][2] – 22 March 2022
Preceded byDinesh Mohaniya
Succeeded bySaurabh Bharadwaj
Personal details
Born (1988-11-11) 11 November 1988
Delhi, India
Political partyAam Aadmi Party
Spouse
​
(m. 2023)​
[3]
Alma materUniversity of Delhi
Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
ProfessionChartered Accountant
Known forSpokesperson of AAP[4][5]
Websitewww.raghavchadha.in

Raghav Chadha (born 11 November 1988) is an Indian politician and member of the Aam Aadmi Party. He is the youngest Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from Punjab, India.[6][7] He was the former Vice Chairman of the Delhi Jal Board and MLA from the Rajendra Nagar assembly constituency in Delhi till 2022.[8] Chadha has been elected as Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha.[9] He is also a practising chartered accountant.[10]

Early life

Born on 11 November 1988 and raised in New Delhi, Chadha received his school education from the capital city's Modern School, Barakhamba Road and graduated from University of Delhi (DU). He then pursued Chartered Accountancy from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, post which he went to the London School of Economics for a certification course of MBA. In his early career he worked with accountancy firms including Deloitte, Shyam Malpani, and Grant Thornton.[10]

Political career

Chadha has been a part of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) since its inception.[11] Mr. Kejriwal encouraged him in drafting the Delhi Lokpal Bill in 2012, which was also his first political task.[12] 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.[13]

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.[14]

Lok Sabha Election

In 2019, Chadha contested from the South Delhi Lok Sabha constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He lost in the elections to the BJP candidate, Ramesh Bidhuri with an overwhelming gap of 50% votes [15][16] 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.[17]

In 2020, as a leader of AAP, Chadha was appointed AAP Punjab co-in-charge for the Punjab Legislative Assembly election.[18][19]

MLA in Delhi Assembly

In February 2020, Chadha contested from Rajendra Nagar in 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.[20] Following the elections, he was appointed vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and assigned the water portfolio in the Delhi Government.

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.[21] No opposition candidate opposed their election.[22] This made him the youngest MP at age 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.[23]

In April 2022, Chadha said that BJP settled Bangladeshis and Rohingyas in Delhi and uses them to cause riots.[24]

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.[25] He is appointed as a leader of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in Rajya Sabha.[26]

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 the Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal had requested the Rajya Sabha Chairman to appoint Chadha as party'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.[27]

Advisor to the Chief Minister of Punjab

After AAP's victory in the State, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann appointed Chadha as the Chairman of an Advisory Panel. A plea challenging his appointment was struck down by the High Court.[28]

Electoral performance

2019 Indian general elections: South Delhi
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 3,67,043 30.23 +20.53
Turnout 12,14,545 58.75 -4.22
BJP hold Swing +11.41
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 3,941 3.80 -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

Personal life

Chadha got engaged to actress Parineeti Chopra, on 13 May 2023 at Kapurthala House in New Delhi.[29] Chadha married Chopra on 24 September 2023 at The Leela Palace, Udaipur, Rajasthan in a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony.[30][31]

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.[32][33] On 11 August, Chadha was suspended from the Rajya Sabha, for "Gross Violation Of Rules". He will remain suspended until the privilege committee decides on it.[34]

References

  1. ↑ "AAP MLA Raghav Chadha Appointed Delhi Jal Board Vice Chairman". 2 March 2020.
  2. ↑ "PRESS RELEASE DELHI JAL BOARD" (PDF). www.delhijalboard.nic.in. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 February 2022.
  3. ↑ "Parineeti Chopra and Raghav Chadha Wedding". Digi Talk Media. Retrieved 27 September 2023.
  4. ↑ "Official Spokespersons". Aam Aadmi Party. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  5. ↑ "Meet Raghav Chadha, AAP ka cute quotient". The Times of India. 19 February 2015.
  6. ↑ "Raghav Chadha Officially Elected to Rajya Sabha as MP".
  7. ↑ "Raghav Chadha, the youngest MP in Rajya Sabha, is now finance panel member".
  8. ↑ "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.
  9. ↑ "Raghav Chadha Officially Elected To Rajya Sabha As MP". NDTV.com. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  10. 1 2 "Who is Raghav Chadha". Business Standard. Retrieved 29 October 2021.
  11. ↑ "School debate champ, AAP spokesperson & now Rajya Sabha MP: Tracing the rise of Raghav Chadha". 26 March 2022.
  12. ↑ "AAP's Raghav Chadha made Punjab unit's co-incharge".
  13. ↑ "AAP's Raghav Chadha made Punjab unit's co-incharge".
  14. ↑ "Sacked AAP adviser Raghav Chadha refunds Rs 2.5 salary to home ministry". Business Standard India. 18 April 2018 – via Business Standard.
  15. ↑ "Lok Sabha Election result: In South Delhi, BJP candidate Ramesh Bidhuri marches ahead , and Raghav Chadha distant second". 23 May 2019.
  16. ↑ "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.
  17. ↑ Dutta, Arnab (10 May 2019). "South Delhi: Congress, Aam Aadmi Party all guns blazing in BJP's den". Business Standard India.
  18. ↑ "Ruckus in AAP leader Raghav Chadha's press conference in Jalandhar over ticket distribution". India Today. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  19. ↑ "Punjab: Unhappy over ticket distribution, Raghav Chadha shown black flags". India Today. 8 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
  20. ↑ "AAP's Raghav Chadha wins from Rajinder Nagar with a margin of 20,085 votes". 11 February 2020.
  21. ↑ "AAP's Rajya Sabha List: Ex Cricketer, IIT Professor, Raghav Chadha". NDTV.com. 21 March 2022.
  22. ↑ "All five nominees of AAP from Punjab elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha". newsonair.gov.in. 24 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  23. ↑ "AAP's Raghav Chadha, Youngest In Rajya Sabha, Now Part Of Finance Panel".
  24. ↑ "'Bangladeshis & Rohingyas': AAP and BJP find common ground to target each other". www.millenniumpost.in. 21 April 2022. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  25. ↑ "Raghav Chadha appointed AAP's Gujarat co-incharge for Assembly election". The Hindu. 18 September 2022. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  26. ↑ https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/aap-raghav-chadha-appointed-party-leader-in-rajya-sabha-in-place-of-sanjay-singh-4685083
  27. ↑ "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.
  28. ↑ "Punjab: Why Raghav Chadha's Appointment as Advisor by AAP Govt Is Drawing Flak".
  29. ↑ "Parineeti Chopra gets engaged to Raghav Chadha, shares first pics: 'Everything I prayed for'". The Indian Express. 13 May 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  30. ↑ "Parineeti Chopra and Raghav Chadha wedding live updates: RaagNeeti done with pheras, are now married". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  31. ↑ "Parineeti Chopra and Raghav Chadha are now married!". The Times of India. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  32. ↑ ANI News (8 August 2023). ""May have forged..." 5 Rajya Sabha MPs demand Privilege Motion against AAP MP Raghav Chadha". ANI News.
  33. ↑ "On Amit Shah's Fraud Claim Against AAP Motion, Raghav Chadha Said".
  34. ↑ "Raghav Chadha Suspended From Rajya Sabha Over "Gross Violation Of Rules"". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2 October 2023.

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