In a significant political development, Raghav Chadha announced his decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party along with fellow Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MPs Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak.
Addressing a press conference, Chadha said that “two-thirds” of AAP’s Upper House MPs have backed the move, enabling them to merge with the BJP under constitutional provisions and potentially avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law.
Chadha claimed that several other MPs—including Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahney—are also backing the shift.
If the numbers hold, the group could meet the threshold required to legally split or merge without attracting penalties under the anti-defection framework.
The development comes at a crucial juncture for AAP, which is gearing up for elections in Punjab where it currently holds power under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.
The exit of Chadha, considered a close aide of Arvind Kejriwal, is being viewed as a major political blow to the party’s national leadership.
At 37, Chadha rose rapidly within AAP after his association with Kejriwal during the India Against Corruption movement. He later served as the party’s national spokesperson and treasurer.
He won the Rajinder Nagar Assembly seat in the 2020 Delhi elections and entered the Rajya Sabha in 2022.
Internal tensions and leadership changes
Chadha’s exit follows months of internal speculation about his role within the party. Recently, AAP removed him as deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha and replaced him with Ashok Mittal.
Mittal had earlier described the change as “routine.” However, shortly after his elevation, the Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at premises linked to him in Jalandhar as part of a money laundering probe.
Kejriwal, AAP leaders slam defection
Reacting sharply, Arvind Kejriwal said, “The BJP has once again given Punjabis a shove.”
Senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh accused the defecting MPs of betraying the people. He said the party had elevated Chadha politically, “but he ended up in the lap of the BJP.”
Singh also alleged that the BJP has consistently obstructed governance in Punjab under Bhagwant Mann.
Allegations of political conspiracy
AAP leaders intensified their attack, with Anurag Dhandha claiming that voters would respond decisively in future elections.
Punjab AAP leader Baltej Pannu alleged a larger conspiracy, accusing Union Home Minister Amit Shah of orchestrating the split. He claimed Chadha was promised a Union ministerial role in exchange for engineering defections.
Chadha says he was “silenced”
Following his removal from the deputy leader’s post, Chadha released a video alleging that he had been “silenced, not defeated.” He claimed that the party had written to parliamentary authorities to restrict his participation in debates.
AAP countered the charge, with Delhi unit chief Saurabh Bharadwaj saying Chadha avoided speaking on key political developments, including Kejriwal’s arrest and governance issues in Punja
