Raghav Chadha quits Delhi assembly, elected to Rajya Sabha hours later

The 33-year-old was among five AAP nominees elected unopposed as no other political party filed nominations on the last day of withdrawal of candidature from Punjab

Raghav Chadha, who was the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislator from the Rajendra Nagar assembly constituency, resigned as a member of the Delhi assembly on Thursday, hours before he was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab.

AAP MLA Raghav Chadha being felicitated in Delhi legislative assembly on Thursday. (ANI)

The 33-year-old was among five AAP nominees elected unopposed from the state as no other political party filed nominations on the last day of withdrawal of candidature from Punjab.

Former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Lovely Professional University founder Ashok Mittal, IIT Delhi faculty member Sandeep Pathak and industrialist Sanjeev Arora are the other four AAP nominees for the Upper House.

Their nominations were necessitated as the term of five sitting Rajya Sabha members from Punjab — Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa (Shiromani Akali Dal), Partap Singh Bajwa (Congress), Shwait Malik (Bharatiya Janata Party ), Naresh Gujral (SAD) and Shamsher Singh Dullo (Congress) — will end on April 9.

Chadha’s resignation will necessitate a bypoll for the Rajendra Nagar assembly constituency within six months. This will be the first byelection in the Capital since the February 2020 assembly polls, which saw the AAP won 62 of the 70 state assembly’s seats.

In a brief speech in the assembly earlier on Thursday, Chadha thanked residents of Rajendra Nagar as well as AAP national convener and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, for the opportunity to serve as legislator.

“Two years ago, Arvind Kejriwal gave me the responsibility of fighting the election. I managed to get the blessing of the people of Rajendra Nagar. In over two years, the Kejriwal government and I have done a lot of work, from roads to water distribution, from sewer to old age pension, to launching the Covid-19 helpline to help people during the pandemic, among others. I gave my best. All residents of my constituency are thankful to the AAP government. I will continue to respect the trust and faith they gave me and will continue to serve them,” said Chadha.

Chadha later submitted his resignation to assembly speaker Ram Niwas Goel in his chamber in Delhi assembly.

Goel, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, leader of Opposition Ramvir Singh Bidhuri and several AAP leaders congratulated Chadha for the Rajya Sabha nomination and said he will be missed in the Delhi assembly.

Chadha, a key member of the party and House committees, is one of the AAP’s young public faces and spearheaded the party’s election campaigns in Delhi and Punjab. He also served as the vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) during his stint as an MLA, a position in which he will be succeeded by the AAP’s Greater Kailash legislator Saurabh Bharadwaj.