In an indication of intra-party wrangling, AAP submitted an official letter to the Rajya Sabha secretariat that it had replaced Chadha with Ashok Mittal as the party’s deputy leader. Mittal, an MP from Punjab, is the chancellor of Lovely Professional University. AAP has 10 MPs in Rajya Sabha and Sanjay Singh is the party’s leader in the House. The party is the fourth largest in the House after BJP, Congress, and Trinamool.
This move raised questions about Chadha’s continuance in AAP. Party sources said the step was taken as Chadha refused to take up important issues and spell out the party line in the House. A senior leader said, “Rather than taking up issues like LPG crisis, Chadha raised other issues to build his stature.” ET reached out to Chadha’s office for comments.
Chadha has been part of AAP since its inception. In 2020 Delhi polls, Chadha was elected from the Rajinder Nagar seat and was appointed vice chairman of the Delhi Jal Board. In 2022, he was named AAP’s Rajya Sabha pick. However, his silence over Kejriwal‘s arrest and his hands-off attitude in the run-up to Delhi assembly polls did not go down well with the leadership. There were rumours that he had contacted BJP and wanted to join the party. His term ends in April 2028.
While AAP has not spelled out the reason for the move, buzz about his exit from the party has been doing the rounds for months now. Mittal thanked Kejriwal for giving him responsibility but played down Chadha’s exit.
