Raghav Chadha, who recently shifted from the Aam Aadmi Party to the Bharatiya Janata Party after publicly expressing differences with the AAP leadership, has now been assigned a significant parliamentary responsibility in the Rajya Sabha.
Following the reconstitution of parliamentary committees in the Upper House, Chadha has been appointed chairman of the Rajya Sabha’s Committee on Petitions, a key panel responsible for examining petitions submitted by citizens regarding public grievances, legislative concerns, and matters requiring parliamentary attention.
According to an official notification issued by the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan nominated 10 members to the Committee on Petitions with effect from May 20.
The notification specifically confirmed that Raghav Chadha would serve as chairman of the panel.
“Raghav Chadha has been appointed chairman of the committee,” the Rajya Sabha notification stated.
Apart from Chadha, the committee includes several other MPs such as Harsh Mahajan, Gulam Ali, Shambhu Sharan Patel, Mayankkumar Nayak, Masthan Rao Yadav Beedha, Jebi Mather Hisham, Subhasish Khuntia, Rwngwra Narzary, and Sandosh Kumar P.
In another separate notification, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat also announced that Chairman CP Radhakrishnan had nominated Menaka Guruswamy to the Joint Committee examining the Corporate Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026.
Additionally, Om Birla nominated Arvind Sawant to the same joint parliamentary committee with effect from May 21, according to a Lok Sabha notification.
Raghav Chadha’s elevation within the Rajya Sabha comes only weeks after his high-profile exit from the Aam Aadmi Party.
Chadha, who had earlier served as one of AAP’s most prominent Rajya Sabha faces, joined the BJP in April this year after alleging that the party had drifted away from the ideals and principles on which it was originally founded.
His move generated major political discussion online and was widely viewed as one of the most significant defections from AAP in recent times.
Alongside Chadha, several other Rajya Sabha MPs also left the AAP and joined the BJP. These included Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikram Sahney, Sandeep Pathak, and Ashok Mittal.
Explaining his departure from the AAP earlier, Chadha had stated that the party, to which he had dedicated nearly 15 years of his youth and political career, had “completely deviated from its principles, values and core morals.”
He further alleged that the party was “no longer working for the country or in the national interest, but for personal gain.”
His appointment as chairman of an important parliamentary committee is now being interpreted by political observers as a sign that the BJP leadership intends to give him a more visible and active institutional role in Parliament following his induction into the party.
The development has also intensified political debate surrounding the growing number of high-profile exits from AAP and the BJP’s efforts to strengthen its parliamentary presence by bringing experienced opposition leaders into its fold.
