The other AAP MPs who exited include Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, and Rajinder Gupta.
However, Chadha’s resignation did not come out of the blue. He had been facing growing friction within the party for some time.
Earlier this month, in a sharp message widely seen as directed at the party leadership, Chadha invoked a punchline—“Ghayal hoon isliye ghatak hoon”—a popular dialogue associated with the Dhurandhar-style cinematic bravado.
The rift became more visible when AAP informed the Rajya Sabha Secretariat about replacing Chadha as deputy leader—an action he described as part of a “scripted campaign” against him.
A Member of Parliament since April 2022, Chadha has frequently raised issues related to governance and public accountability, including women’s representation in local bodies.
What went wrong?
Chadha, a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, has been associated with AAP since its inception. He began his political journey in 2012, working closely with Arvind Kejriwal on the Delhi Lokpal Bill. He quickly rose through the ranks, becoming a national spokesperson and later the party’s youngest treasurer after AAP’s 2015 Delhi Assembly victory.
He contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from South Delhi but lost. In 2020, he won the Delhi Assembly elections from Rajendra Nagar and later served as vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board. In 2022, at 33, he became one of the youngest Rajya Sabha MPs. He played a key role in the party’s parliamentary and organisational affairs alongside leaders like Manish Sisodia and Bhagwant Mann.
In 2023, AAP appointed him as its leader in the Rajya Sabha, succeeding Sanjay Singh.
However, reports suggest Chadha was increasingly sidelined over alleged indiscipline and for not strictly adhering to the party line. Notably, he remained silent following the discharge of Kejriwal and Sisodia in the liquor excise policy-linked money laundering case. He was also absent from the party office when Kejriwal later addressed a press conference.
During Kejriwal’s arrest in the same case ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Chadha refrained from commenting, citing recovery from eye surgery in the UK—fueling speculation about his strained ties with the party leadership.
