- By Aditya Jha
- Wed, 15 Apr 2026 01:12 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Wednesday conducted a raid at the residence and business premises of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Kumar Mittal. As per the officials, the raid was conducted in connection with an alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). The central agency searched several sites, including the campus of the Lovely Professional University in Phagwara, the Tetr College and Masters union College of Business in Gurgaon.
The action was taken days after Mittal replaced Raghav Chadha as the deputy leader of AAP in the Rajya Sabha, leading to a major controversy. While reacting to the raid, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, in a post on X (formerly Twitter), alleged that the action was politically motivated. "BJP begins preparations for Punjab elections…ED raids at the home and university of AAP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal..typical Modi style," Mann stated.
Earlier, AAP had urged the Rajya Sabha secretariat to remove Raghav Chadha as the party's deputy leader of the house.
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Apart from this, the party had also requested the secretariat of the upper house to not allocate him time to speak during the sessions from the AAP's quota. However, Mittal stated that the transition was a "continuous process", adding that someone else will replace him in the near future.
"Earlier, ND Gupta ji was deputy leader, then Raghav ji took over, and now I have been given the responsibility. Tomorrow, someone else may get the opportunity," the AAP leader had said. Mittal has been in the education business for decades and is also the founder of Lovely Professional University in Punjab.
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He decided to enter active politics back in 2022 and was elected to the upper house the same year. Mittal is also considered close to the party convenor Arvind Kejriwal and has been part of the decision-making bodies. Apart from this, he is also part of parliamentary committees, including Defence and Finance.