The Arvind Kejriwal-led party quickly countered the defection, hitting out at the BJP and calling the seven MPs ‘traitors’
NEW DELHI — The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday faced a seismic shock as heavyweight leaders and sitting Rajya Sabha MPs Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, among others, formally announced their departure from the party.
The move of the seven lawmakers to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) began with a high-voltage press conference, where Chadha, flanked by Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak, read out a carefully worded statement denouncing AAP’s policies since 2013.
The AAP quickly countered the defection with its own press conference, hitting out at the BJP and calling the seven “traitors”.
Chadha, once projected as the party’s second-rung face in the Rajya Sabha, declared that “we, the two-thirds members belonging to the AAP in the Rajya Sabha, exercise the provisions of the Constitution and merge ourselves with the BJP”.
He added that more than seven of AAP’s 10 Rajya Sabha MPs were part of this move, invoking the two-thirds group merger clause of the Constitution’s Tenth Schedule to bypass anti-defection disqualification.
In a mockery of the anti-defection law, the switching of sides culminated early evening at the ruling party’s New Delhi headquarters, where BJP President J.P. Nadda welcomed them with bouquets and offered them sweets.
Though the step was expected – especially for Chadha and Swati Maliwal – the sudden and en masse move redefined the AAP’s political presence and plunged its leadership into a fresh crisis ahead of the 2027 Punjab elections.
Chadha was among the party’s top leadership and Kejriwal’s aide, frontline spokesperson, and strategist. His colleague, Pathak, was also considered among the principal strategists who crafted the AAP’s victory, especially in Punjab.
For Mittal, the founder of Lovely Professional University, the AAP was his maiden venture into active politics. His resignation from the party is being attributed by some to “pressure” built after recent raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
“Bhajji”, the celebrated spin-bowler Harbhajan Singh, joined the AAP and was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab in 2022.
Maliwal, who has long been at loggerheads with the party leadership, highlighted her intent with a social media post, recounting her frustrations in the party and the alleged physical attack at the then-chief ministerial residence of party supremo Kejriwal.
Punjab entrepreneur Vikram Sahney has been a vocal advocate in the House on issues related to his state and has actively supported social initiatives beneficial to society, especially children. Rajinder Gupta is also an industrialist who has focused on economic development and rural employment schemes in Punjab.
Once all seven Rajya Sabha MPs have made the move formal, it would mark a major shift for the AAP, impacting its presence in the Upper House and weighing heavily on internal stability. It would also bolster the BJP’s prospects in the coming Punjab Assembly elections.
In Friday’s briefing, Chadha accused the AAP of having “completely deviated from its principles, values and core morals”, accusing the party of growing “corrupt, compromised, and self-serving”.
Mittal and Pathak echoed this, saying Delhi and national politics had “lost an honest alternative” and that defecting to the BJP was an act of “positive politics” rather than opportunism.
The BJP has termed the defection as “reframing” the AAP’s brand. Party spokespersons described the AAP as a “failed idealism” that had “turned into another corrupt establishment”, while welcoming the defectors as “realists who put national interest above party interest”.
For the AAP, the immediate consequence is arithmetic: of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs, only three now remain with the party. It has drastically shrunk its voice in the Upper House and weakened its ability to negotiate on key bills.
With the 2027 Punjab election looming and AAP’s Delhi base already shattered after the 2025 assembly rout, Friday’s buildup has turned what was once a Delhi-centric party into a regionally confined project battling for mere survival.
Incidentally, party supremo Arvind Kejriwal had recently announced the party’s exit from the opposition INDIA bloc. — With inputs from IANS
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Photo: Rajya Sabha MPs Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak leave after meeting with BJP National President Nitin Nabin at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) headquarters in New Delhi on Friday. — IANS
