to run for the Liberal Party leadership to succeed outgoing Trine Skei Grande, becoming the second Liberal politician to announce their intention to seek the leadership after Sveinung Rotevatn. Raja was however open to becoming deputy leader if the party wished for it. On 23 August, he was designated deputy leader of the party, with Rotevatn as first deputy and Melby as party leader, unanimously by the party's election committee. At the party conference in September, he was elected second deputy leader, with Melby as leader and Rotevatn as first deputy, unopposed. On 30 September, the government announced that contact training for broad sports would be allowed from 12 October, and at the same time would allow for a larger field of audiences to attend matches. Raja also stated that every municipality should evaluate themselves whether or not it's safe to allow contact training. The government took a u-turn after it had not included Sami culture and museums in their COVID-19 budget support package. Raja expressed in November that there was no doubt that the pandemic had affected the Sami culture life equally. He added that the government had put forward 1,2 million NOK in support of Sami museums, and proposed 400,000 NOK to Sami stage art. Raja condemned harassment against Sami people in December, after a Sami woman was told by two elderly women on a bus in Tromsø to shut up speaking Sami. He stated that he and the government stood behind the Sami people, and expressed it was important for such events to see the light of day. In February 2021, he faced controversy when it was revealed that 68,6 million NOK of the incentive pot was given to production of Mission: Impossible 8. Producer Synnøve Hørsdal said that “Norway shouldn't waste 70 million NOK so that Raja can get a new selfie with [Tom] Cruise”. She also expressed that the budget should have been spent on Norwegian productions rather than foreign ones during the COVID-19 pandemic. Raja defended the spending, stating that it was the Mission: Impossible production's own decision to apply for filming in the country, and the fact that they were allowed, was decided by the NFI and not him. A “summer group” set up by Raja consisting of event hosts and professionals concluded in March 2021 that summer events and festivals could return to normal by summer. Raja expressed gratitude for the group's