BJP's laddu for 3 ex-AAP MPs. What about other 4 leaders named by Raghav Chadha?

Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha announced his resignation from AAP and joined the BJP along with Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal. He stressed that four more AAP MPs will also switch, even though they were not seen publicly today. Read to know more about it.

In Short

• Raghav Chadha quits AAP, joins BJP with Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak
• He says 4 more AAP MPs will switch, but they weren't seen publicly today
• AAP leaders accuse BJP of poaching MPs ahead of 2027 Punjab polls

In a massive jolt for Arvind Kejriwal's AAP, Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Friday announced his exit from the party after 15 years, saying he would join the BJP along with six other parliamentarians. He declared that he, along with fellow Rajya Sabha MPs Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal, was leaving AAP and joining the BJP. He also claimed that four other MPs – Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikram Sahney and Swati Maliwal – would switch sides.

While Chadha said that seven AAP MPs would move to the BJP, only two parliamentarians – Pathak and Mittal – have so far appeared alongside the 37-year-old, who subsequently switched to the saffron party. The remaining four leaders were absent at Chadha's briefing and at the BJP's induction ceremony. However, Sahney later confirmed he had exited AAP and joined the BJP. Maliwal too said she had left the party, but did not spell out her political future.

Chadha’s exit came amid growing tensions within AAP and weeks after he was removed as Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha. Senior party leaders had accused him of drifting away from the party’s political line, while Chadha claimed he had been silenced within the party. Interestingly, Mittal, who replaced Chadha as the new party Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha, had also joined the BJP with him.

If all seven MPs were to formally cross over, it would amount to a near-collapse of AAP’s strength in the Rajya Sabha. The party currently has 10 MPs in the Upper House, and a seven-member defection would cross the two-thirds threshold required to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law. With that, only three MPs will remain in the Upper House.

However, the immediate political optics raised doubts.

At the press conference, Chadha insisted that he possessed signed consent letters from all seven MPs. He said the signatures of all MPs backing the switch had been collected and that the process of formal communication with parliamentary authorities would follow.

The letters, purportedly signed by the MPs, are not available on the public forum as of now.

Meanwhile, according to AAP sources, ND Gupta, one of the three Rajya Sabha MPs remaining, said he will submit a letter to Chairman CP Radhakrishnan against Chadha, Pathak and Mittal. The letter will seek action as per the anti-defection law, sources added.

2023 FORGED SIGNATURES' CONTROVERSY

Notably, in 2023, Chadha faced allegations related to the inclusion of names of MPs in a parliamentary motion without their explicit consent.

Five Rajya Sabha MPs demanded to move a privilege motion against Chadha, alleging that their “forged signatures” were added to the proposed select committee on the Delhi Services Bill without their consent. AAP had denied the allegations.

Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh announced a probe into the complaints. The select committee was proposed by Raghav Chadha in the Upper House to examine the bill.

The controversy eventually reached the Rajya Sabha Ethics Committee, which examined complaints against him. The row led to Chadha’s suspension from the Rajya Sabha for several months before he was later reinstated.

However, the circumstances surrounding the controversy and Chadha's switch to BJP are entirely different.

VIKRAM SAHNEY, SWATI MALIWAL REACT

Sahney, one of the MPs named by Chadha, confirmed his decision to join the BJP. He said he was driven by what he described as a commitment to Punjab’s welfare and the belief that working with the Centre would allow him to contribute more effectively.

“I believe that as part of the BJP, I will be able to serve Punjab and its people with greater dedication and effectiveness with the support of the Centre,” Sahney wrote on X.

Calling Punjab “an emotion, a legacy, and a shared responsibility,” Sahney said the state was passing through a difficult financial phase and uncertain times.

“I have always believed in cooperative federalism and strong Centre-state partnerships. By working together in this spirit, we can bring stability, growth, and hope back to Punjab,” he said.

SWATI MALIWAL CONFIRMS QUITTING AAP

Maliwal, a rebel AAP MP, also confirmed that she had quit the party, but did not indicate whether she had joined the BJP as claimed by Chadha. But, she hit out at the party leadership over its functioning.

“With great sorrow today, I must say that the principles, values, and resolve for honest politics with which we began this journey have been abandoned by Arvind Kejriwal and, at his behest, the entire AAP,” she wrote on X.

She also repeated allegations of physical assault at Kejriwal’s residence, claiming she was attacked and humiliated while the accused was protected and rewarded. “Threats were made to ruin me, and every possible effort was made against me,” she alleged.

Citing what she described as unchecked corruption within the party, incidents of harassment against women and the “betrayal” of Punjab, Maliwal said she had decided to leave AAP.

She added that she was in Itanagar for a parliamentary committee meeting and would speak in greater detail after returning to Delhi tonight.

Senior AAP leaders, including Kejriwal himself and Sanjay Singh, have lashed out at Chadha and the other MPs, accusing them of betraying Punjab, and alleging that the BJP poached them under 'Operation Lotus'.

The controversy comes at a sensitive time for AAP, which now governs only Punjab after losing power in Delhi last year, and is preparing for a crucial Punjab Assembly election in 2027. Any further defections could deepen the party’s internal crisis and complicate its efforts to retain its last remaining state government.

- Ends