According to multiple reports citing Chadha, those others who have decided to join ranks and take the plunge are Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahni.
NEW DELHI — Raghav Chadha, the senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP, dropped a political bombshell on Friday, by announcing his exit from the party along with six other party lawmakers – all headed to the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).
He said that the two-thirds faction of the AAP Rajya Sabha MPs, comprising a breakaway faction, will merge with the BJP in the coming days.
Chadha made the announcement in a press conference, accompanied by another party Rajya Sabha MP, Sandeep Pathak.
According to multiple reports citing Chadha, those others who have decided to join ranks and take the plunge are Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahni.
The development comes as a body blow for the fledgling party and its convenor, as well as former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
Raghav, one of the youngest parliamentarians, also announced that along with him, two-thirds of AAP Rajya Sabha MPs have decided to switch their political loyalties – a stance that will help them bypass the anti-defection law and shield them from any action by the parent party.
The development comes days after Raghav Chadha’s demotion in the House from the post of Deputy Leader of the party, for allegedly not raising key issues against the government.
Interestingly, Ashok Mittal, who replaced Chadha as the new party Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha, has also joined him in the merger with the BJP.
Currently, the AAP has 10 members in the Upper House, with broad representation from Punjab – the only state where it remains in power.
Out of 10 MPs, seven are from Punjab, namely – Raghav Chadha, Rajinder Gupta, Ashok Kumar Mittal, Sandeep Kumar Pathak, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Harbhajan Singh and Sant Balbir Singh.
The lawmakers from Delhi are Swati Maliwal, Narain Dass Gupta and Sanjay Singh.
Punjab AAP Blames Amit Shah for engineering defections
Punjab Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) General Secretary Baltej Pannu on Friday blamed Union Home Minister Amit Shah for a coordinated attempt to weaken the party by misusing Central agencies and engineering defections of its seven Members of Parliament.
“Amit Shah is actively working to weaken AAP by engineering defections and using Raghav Chadha as a tool to execute this plan. There are credible reports within the party that Amit Shah offered Raghav Chadha a Union ministerial position if he succeeds in breaking at least seven AAP MPs and bringing them into a new political outfit,” Pannu told the media here.
He said, “A new party is being formed through Raghav Chadha with the backing of the BJP, and efforts are underway to lure AAP MPs into joining it. Our MPs are being pressured through false ED raids, intimidation tactics, and coercion.”
Launching an attack on Chadha, he said, “The party gave him immense respect and elevated him to the Parliament at a very young age, but he has now stabbed Punjab in the back. Punjabis love wholeheartedly, but they also know how to deal with those who betray them. — IANS
