It was in direction of the final days of Indian Against Corruption, the anti-corruption motion led by Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi, {that a} 23-year-old Raghav Chadha met the latter. Soon after, in 2012, Chadha, a chartered accountant by coaching who went to the London School of Economics, bought concerned within the framing of the Delhi Lokpal Bill.
Now, 10 years later, Chadha is about to turn into the youngest sitting member of the Rajya Sabha — elections for 5 Upper House seats from Punjab are scheduled to be held on March 31.
Chadha, an alumnus of Delhi’s Modern School, Barakhamba, whose engagement with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) began in 2012, donned a number of hats within the occasion – he was initially concerned in drafting key laws such because the Jan Lokpal, earlier than being appointed because the occasion spokesperson in 2015. He has additionally been intently concerned with authorized issues involving the AAP and its members – of which there have been a number of.
“When Raghav joined the occasion, he was among the many many younger individuals who have been influenced by our type of politics and Kejriwal’s type of functioning. Where he excelled was exhausting work. Over the years, he has been given a number of roles and duties within the occasion and he has managed them effectively. From being a spokesperson who would sq. off with rivals leaders twice or thrice his age on nationwide tv, to working with leaders on authorized instances involving the occasion, Raghav has accomplished it effectively at a really younger age. While he was initially teased by occasion members and colleagues over his ‘chocolate boy’ seems to be, he has proven immense development over time and has earned their respect,” mentioned a senior occasion chief.
According to occasion officers, Chadha has been profitable in speaking to the occasion prime brass that he’s able to dealing with massive duties. Even earlier than he was named the co-in cost of Punjab earlier than the Assembly polls there, he was the occasion’s best choice for one of many seven Lok Sabha seats from Delhi in 2019.
In an election the place the AAP drew a clean, Chadha, who had been fielded from South Delhi, managed to get the best vote share amongst all occasion candidates. The occasion gave him one other likelihood within the 2020 Assembly polls, which he gained from the Rajinder Nagar constituency in west Delhi.
Within a couple of days, he was given cost of the Delhi Jal Board, a key division which has been on prime of the AAP’s agenda with the occasion promising free water and sewer strains for all, and now, 24×7 water provide.
Within days of AAP successful the Assembly polls in February, riots broke out in Northeast Delhi. While it doesn’t have management of legislation and order and policing within the metropolis, because the ruling occasion, the AAP got here underneath hearth from a number of quarters for its failure to forestall the violence.
In March that yr, the Delhi Assembly arrange a committee, the Peace and Harmony Committee, to counsel measures to revive concord amongst spiritual communities, with Chadha as its chairperson. In July final yr, Facebook India MD Ajit Mohan was summoned by the committee for a listening to within the context of complaints that the social media platform had did not take away hate speech materials in the course of the riots. The matter went to court docket, with Facebook saying the committee couldn’t summon a non-member and examine a difficulty on which it lacked the facility to enact legal guidelines, for the reason that Delhi authorities doesn’t have policing powers. The AAP authorities lastly prevailed when the court docket adjudged that whereas the Assembly Committee didn’t have the facility to advocate motion towards Mohan, that they had the suitable to summon him.
When he was appointed the co-in-charge for Punjab, together with Tilak Nagar MLA Jarnail Singh, there was apprehension within the state, in addition to in Delhi.
“Punjab was a state the place we had a powerful presence, however there had been a number of infighting since 2017, when the AAP gained 20 seats. With that in thoughts, some folks weren’t certain if sending Raghav there was the suitable choice as a result of he was seen as an outsider. But for a number of months, he camped there and gained the boldness of many leaders. He was additionally intently concerned in ticket distribution. That did result in heartburn, but it surely was solely pure. Ultimately, the outcomes vindicated his place,” mentioned one other senior AAP chief.
Now on observe to turn into the youngest sitting member of Rajya Sabha, Chadha’s position will change. In retaining with the AAP’s nationwide ambition, he’s set to be among the many eight representatives of the occasion within the Upper House – three from Delhi who have been elected in 2018 and 5 from Punjab.
“Like most different leaders from AAP, his journey has been robust up to now however he has held his personal. That is what the occasion expects from him in Rajya Sabha as effectively,” the chief added.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
