'Raghav Chadha Congratulated Me First,' Says Ashok Mittal Who Replaced Him As AAP Deputy In RS

Last Updated:April 03, 2026, 15:12 IST

Mittal downplayed the change, calling it routine and noting that ND Gupta had previously held the deputy leader role before Chadha.

Downplaying any rift in the party, Aam Aadmi Party MP Ashok Mittal who replaced Punjab MP Raghav Chadha as the party’s deputy leader in Rajya Sabha said that Chadha was the first to congratulate him.

Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab since April 2022, Ashok Mittal, was in the midst of asking a supplementary question on the ‘Green Cover’ issue, he was summoned by the party’s Upper House leader, Sanjay Singh, and informed of his new role in the House.

“You will now replace Raghav Chadha as the Deputy Leader," Singh told Mittal, landing a big surprise on the leader.

“When I stepped out after asking my question – sometime around one o’clock – Raghav Chadha was the very first person among those offering congratulations," Mittal, who in February was made a member of the India-USA Parliamentary Friendship Group, told NDTV.

Minimizing the significance of the shift, Mittal described it as a routine procedure, pointing out that ND Gupta had previously served as the party’s deputy leader in the Upper House before the responsibility was handed over to Chadha.

“Now, I have been given this role. Our party wants all MPs to learn, and probably in that context, I have been given this role so that I can learn the processes and administrative skills in politics," he said, adding that the party remains strong.

Who Is Ashok Mittal?

Mittal, who is the chancellor of Lovely Professional University, has been a part of several parliamentary committees, including the Committee on Defence, the Committee on Finance. in February 2026, he was made a member of the India- USA Parliamentary Friendship Group.

The 61-year-old Punjab MP was also a part of an all-party delegation, led by DMK MP Kanimozhi, which visited Russia, Latvia, Slovenia, Greece, and Spain after the Pahalgam terror attack last year.

AAP’s Upper House Team

The Aam Aadmi Party currently has 10 members in the Rajya Sabha, with Punjab providing the largest representation, being the only state where the party is in power. Of the 10 MPs, seven hail from Punjab: Raghav Chadha, Rajinder Gupta, Ashok Kumar Mittal, Sandeep Kumar Pathak, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Harbhajan Singh, and Sant Balbir Singh.

The remaining three MPs represent Delhi: Swati Maliwal, Narain Dass Gupta, and Sanjay Singh.

Raghav Chadha, once seen as a close aide of Arvind Kejriwal and among the youngest MPs in the country, has now fallen out with the party leadership, becoming the second AAP Rajya Sabha member after Swati Maliwal to face such a situation. Chadha had played a significant role in party affairs, particularly in Punjab and during AAP’s governance in Delhi.

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