Raghav Chadha sighted after long absence, meets CM Kejriwal in Delhi

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, May 18

Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab Raghav Chadha and his actor-wife Parineeti Chopra reached Chandigarh this evening, hours after the senior AAP leader met party supremo and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi.

Chadha heading to Chandigarh immediately after calling on the Delhi CM raised many eyebrows as the MP was often accused by the Opposition of running a parallel government in Punjab. Though Chadha and Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann have been publically acknowledging each other as “brothers”, there have been murmurs of alleged differences between the two. Considering that Chadha remained a prominent AAP face for campaign during the 2022 Assembly elections, his return has created a sensation in the political and administrative setup in the state. During the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, CM Mann is the face of the party’s campaign.

Chadha’s phone continued to be unreachable with a source close to him saying the MP “was here to recuperate after undergoing an eye surgery—vitrectomy—in the UK”. Another close aide said he was here to give a fillip to the campaign and dispel the Opposition charge that “AAP’s MPs were not working for the party during the elections”. He is likely to hold a roadshow at Anandpur Sahib on Monday.

Barring a handful of close aides, nobody seemed to be aware of his decision to come to Chandigarh. As a result, the usual serpentine queues of official cars outside his Sector 2 residence were missing this evening.