It is because of CM Arvind Kejriwal’s transformational leadership that millions of youngsters like myself started believing that honest politics is possible: Raghav Chadha
NEW DELHI
Aam Aadmi Party Senior Leader and Rajya Sabha Member Shri Raghav Chadha was honoured as a Young Global Leader for 2022 by the World Economic Forum on Wednesday. The Forum of Young Global Leaders Community is aligned with the World Economic Forum (WEF). The Forum encourages leaders across borders and sectors to shape a more inclusive and sustainable future.
WEF described the members of the list as “the world’s most promising 109 Young Global Leaders under the age of 40, involved in activities from green energy and health equity to refugee rights and education reform”. The list also features the likes of Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov.
On the occasion, Shri Raghav Chadha said, “I am honored and humbled to have been selected as a World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leader for the year 2022. This is not an award for past success, but a recognition of the potential that ‘Kejriwal School of Politics’ has to reshape the political landscape and bring about public service & nation building in its truest sense.”
The Young Global Leaders felicitation is an acknowledgement of his immense talent. In the words of Delhi Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal, he is an honest, dedicated, patriotic and stylish leader. After the announcement of the award, Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal congratulated him on Twitter.
In reply to the CM’s wishes, Shri Chadha said, “Thank you, Sir. It is because of your transformational leadership that millions of youngsters like myself started believing that honest politics is possible. I will forever be grateful to you for your constant mentorship.”
What is the Forum of Young Global Leaders?
In 2004, World Economic Forum chairman, Klaus Schwab created the Forum of Young Global Leaders to help the world meet increasingly complex and interdependent problems. Hence, the Young Global Leaders Community is an accelerator for a dynamic community of exceptional people with the vision, courage, and influence to drive positive change in the world..It’s a family of more than 1,400 members and alumni of 120 nationalities including civic and business innovators, entrepreneurs, technology pioneers, educators, activists, artists, journalists and more. The Forum is aligned with the World Economic Forum’s mission, and it seeks to drive public-private cooperation in the global public interest.
About Raghav Chadha:
Shri Raghav Chadha’s rise in Indian politics has been mercurial, and is no less than a saga. He began his journey as a volunteer of the popular anti-corruption movement in Delhi, soon became a full time worker of the party under the leadership of Shri Arvind Kejriwal and rose steadily within the ranks to finally win elections to reach Delhi Legislative Assembly.
A scholar and strategist par excellence, Shri Chadha, known for his resilience recently led Aam Aadmi Party’s poll efforts in Punjab which the AAP won with a thumping majority. AAP’s admirable performance made even the tallest leaders of other parties run for their money.
The MP has already registered his mark in Delhi. He is not just seen sharing his political vision towards nation building, but also empowering the organisation, structuring and executing effective campaigns for the party across several states particularly, New Delhi and Punjab.
His long standing mission has also been towards empowering the youth of India and encouraging them to take part in active politics. The youngest national spokesperson of the Aam Aadmi Party can be seen debating opposite seasoned politicians with aplomb on news channels daily. The soft spoken Chadha with a great command over language and various subjects amassed an enviable fan base.
Politics happened quite by chance for this qualified chartered accountant. An alumnus of Modern School, Barakhamba Road, New Delhi, he pursued Bachelors in Commerce (B.Com) from Delhi University and thereafter completed his Chartered Accountancy from the ICAI. He worked with notable brands like Grant Thornton, Deloitte etc and continues to be a practicing chartered accountant. Thereafter, Chadha attended the London School of Economics (LSE), and had set up a boutique wealth management firm in England. It was during those years of Anna Aandolan that he got an opportunity to work with Shri Arvind Kejriwal, who assigned the task of drafting the Delhi Lokpal Bill to the young man back in 2012.
He then contested the 2019 General Elections from the South Delhi constituency. He came second on the contested seat, but was the highest vote getter among all AAP candidates in Delhi. In February 2020, he contested from the Rajinder Nagar constituency in the Delhi legislative assembly elections and recorded a commendable win against BJP’s candidate RP Singh, with a margin of 20,058 votes.
Following the Delhi assembly elections, he was awarded the additional charge of the Vice Chairperson of the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) and assigned the water portfolio in the Delhi Government. He immediately took to his office and announced that Delhi Jal Board’s key priorities are 24×7 supply of clean piped water to all households. He laid equal emphasis on cleaning river Yamuna within the stipulated timeline.
He also started a 24X7 helpline in Rajinder Nagar Vidhan Sabha, as a direct way to connect with the assembly’s MLA Raghav Chadha, but it soon turned into a ‘lifeline’ for the residents of the area during the lockdown, which resolved issues for over hundreds of residents in real-time during the day. He worked extremely hard for the residents of his constituency during the outbreak of Covid-19 in the city.
Under the charismatic guidance of CM Shri Arvind Kejriwal, Shri Raghav Chadha has strongly propelled the ideals of clean politics, affordable politics and volunteerism. He emerged as a youth icon in the country. He maintains that he is a student of the Kejriwal school of politics.
He was appointed as the party’s co-incharge for the Punjab unit ahead of assembly polls in the state in 2022. He was instrumental in selecting the candidates, designing campaigns and micromanaging the implementation of campaigns in Punjab. His political genius saw to it that voters chose the Aam Aadmi Party to lead Punjab.
After leading his party to a thumping two-third majority in Punjab legislative elections, where AAP won 92 out of 117 seats, he has been elected to Rajya Sabha unopposed from Punjab. His six-year term in the upper house of Parliament starts in 2022. He is now the youngest MP in Rajya Sabha. Netizens lovingly call him the face of changing politics of India, the one who’s walking along and following the footsteps of Shri Arvind Kejriwal, his guide and mentor as he calls him, who has truly transformed the way politics functions in India.