AAP names Ashok Mittal as party’s new deputy leader in Rajya Sabha, Raghav Chadha dropped

NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday named its lawmaker from Punjab, Ashok Mittal, as the party’s new deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha. This effectively paves the way for the axing of party MP Rahul Chadha as its current Deputy Leader in the Upper House and his replacement with a new face from Punjab.

The Arvind Kejriwal-led party has penned a letter to the Rajya Sabha Secretariat to facilitate this changeover and appoint party MP Ashok Mittal as the new Deputy Leader of the party in the Upper House, highly placed sources said.

Currently, RS MP Sanjay Singh is the party’s leader in the Rajya Sabha and also the chairperson of the AAP parliamentary party.

The party is also understood to have urged the Secretariat not to allot time to the incumbent deputy leader. In the past few months, Raghav Chadha has been vociferous in raising issues of public interest and those pertaining to their sufferings.