Raghav Chadha Joins BJP: A Timeline Of His Political Career

2012: Raghav Chadha’s political journey began with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) from its inception. At the age of 24, he worked under Arvind Kejriwal to draft the Delhi Lokpal Bill in 2012, marking his first foray into legislative work. Later, he became the youngest national spokesperson.

2015-2018: When Aam Aadmi Party secured a landslide victory in the 2015 Delhi Legislative Assembly elections, Chadha (26) was appointed as the party’s national treasurer. He briefly served as an advisor to Delhi’s Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, a tenure later terminated by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs in 2018.

2019-2020: He contested from the South Delhi Lok Sabha seat. However, he lost to the BJP candidate Ramesh Bidhuri. In 2020, he contested the Delhi Legislative Assembly election from Rajendra Nagar, wining with a margin of more than 20,000 votes. After his victory, he was appointed vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board.

2022: He was elected to the Rajya Sabha by the Punjab Legislative Assembly. He was appointed to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, overseeing policies drafted by multiple Union ministries and the NITI Aayog. He also contributed to AAP’s electoral successes beyond Delhi, including the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, where the party won an overwhelming majority. Later. he was appointed co-in-charge for the 2022 Gujarat Legislative Assembly elections and serves as a leader of AAP in the Rajya Sabha.

2023: When the party’s Floor Leader, Sanjay Singh, was unable to discharge his duties due to judicial custody, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requested that Chadha be appointed interim Leader of the House, a request ultimately turned down due to procedural norms. In Punjab, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann appointed him Chairman of an Advisory Panel, a move later upheld by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

2024- 2026: It was during his time in the Rajya Sabha that Chadha raised problems faced by students and gig workers. His parliamentary speeches on student's debt went viral and were praised by the Gen-Z on social media. Some even called him the country's best MP for raising the issues faced by the middle-class.

In April 2026, amid Chadha's continued silence on key developments involving the AAP and its top leadership, the party recommended his removal from the important post in the Upper House.