Raghav Chadha: Studying from London, journey to becoming Kejriwal’s trusted strategist and joining BJP

On Friday afternoon, Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha announced to leave the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and join BJP.

In a press conference with party MPs Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal, he claimed that two-thirds of the Aam Aadmi Party members in the Rajya Sabha are merging with the BJP.

The Aam Aadmi Party was quick to criticize this and termed the incident as ‘Operation Lotus’, calling the MPs who left the party ‘disloyal’.

Earlier this month, Aam Aadmi Party had given the responsibility of deputy leader of the party in Rajya Sabha to Ashok Kumar Mittal in place of Raghav Chadha. After which there was a dispute between Aam Aadmi Party and Raghav Chadha.

Announcing his departure from the party on Friday, Raghav Chadha accused the party of ‘completely deviating from its principles, values ​​and basic ethics’.

He said, “I am the right man, but in the wrong party.”

Let us know how Raghav Chadha, who was once considered the most important commander of Kejriwal, became the leader of this rebellion.

In 2013, when Anna Hazare’s India Against Corruption movement was in its final stages, Raghav Chaddha, a chartered accountant by profession, returned to India after studying at the Raghav London School of Economics.

At the same time he met Arvind Kejriwal. Then he joined Aam Aadmi Party.

According to a report in Daily O, Raghav Chadha’s first assignment in the party was to assist advocate Rahul Mehra who drafted the Delhi Janlokpal Bill. This responsibility was handed over to him by Arvind Kejriwal.

Raghav Chadha became the youngest spokesperson of the party and within a short time he had become the face of Aam Aadmi Party on television.

Raghav Chaddha studied from Modern School, Delhi. He obtained B.Com degree from Delhi University in 2009.

After this, he obtained CA degree from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in the year 2011. He is a professional chartered accountant.

In an interview he had said that he had also studied in London for some time and he loved spending time in London.

During the same interview, he also said that ‘after studying abroad, he returned to his country because he loves his country and his parents also live here.’

Raghav Chadha was also a member of the committee that prepared the election manifesto of AAP in 2013.

He has also worked as a financial advisor to former Finance Minister Manish Sisodia in Delhi Government.

He has also been MLA from Rajendra Nagar, Delhi and Chairman of Delhi Jal Board. He has also served as the national spokesperson of the party.

Ahead of the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, Aam Aadmi Party had appointed Raghav Chadha as co-in-charge of Punjab. He also played an important role in the massive victory of Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab.

However, in 2019, when he contested the Lok Sabha elections from South Delhi against BJP leader Ramesh Bidhuri, he had to face defeat.

After this, in the year 2020, he became MLA by winning the election from Rajendra Nagar of Delhi.

When the Aam Aadmi Party government was formed in Punjab in the year 2022, Raghav Chadha got the opportunity to become a Rajya Sabha member from Punjab.

According to the information given on the official website of Aam Aadmi Party, Raghav Chadha believes that ‘he did not choose politics, but politics chose him.’

He had also said the same thing in an interview given to a private channel.

Raghav said, “My family was very comfortable with the idea of ​​my entering politics as a member of the Aam Aadmi Party because it was a party that was built on the same moral values ​​that they had supported in the anti-corruption movement.”

According to the affidavit filed during nomination as Rajya Sabha member, Raghav Chadha has assets worth Rs 36 lakh.

He has no liability.

According to the same affidavit, he has a Swift car in his name.

According to his affidavit filed during the assembly elections in 2020, at that time he had assets worth Rs 19 lakh.

According to My Neta Info website, his latest affidavit states that a total of three criminal cases are registered against Chadha.

These include cases of defamation and public misconduct.

According to the information received, Raghav has not been punished in any case yet.

After marriage, in an interview given to some private channels, both of them had said that their first meeting was at an event in London, where both were getting awards for good work in their respective fields.

Both of them had said that the meeting at the breakfast table turned into friendship.

But the closeness between the two increased further when the shooting of Parineeti’s film ‘Chamkila’ was going on in Punjab.

The marriage ceremony of both of them took place on 24 September 2023 in Udaipur, Rajasthan. Now both of them also have a son.

Published by Collective Newsroom for the BBC.