‘Disappointment, disenchantment, disgust’: Raghav Chadha says 3Ds prompted him to switch from AAP to BJP
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Disappointment, disenchantment, disgust’: Raghav Chadha says 3Ds prompted him to switch from AAP to BJP")
Raghav Chadha Photograph: (Instagram)
Raghav Chadha joined the BJP, citing “disappointment, disenchantment, and disgust” with AAP’s “toxic” environment. Six other MPs followed, amid a major youth backlash and a million-follower loss on Instagram.
In his first-ever statement since the party switch, Indian politician Raghav Chadha on Monday (April 27) defended his decision to leave the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He described his former party as a “toxic workplace” that no longer resembled the organisation he had joined. The 37-year-old Rajya Sabha MP broke his silence through an Instagram video after facing a barrage of questions over his defection. The move appears aimed at addressing concerns among younger supporters, particularly after Chadha reportedly lost nearly a million followers on the platform in a single day following his switch last week.
Explaining his decision, Chadha said the party had transformed over time. “Today, this party is no longer the old party. Today, this party has a toxic work environment. You are stopped from working. You are stopped from speaking in Parliament,” he said.
Describing himself as one of AAP’s founding members, Chadha said he had devoted 15 years of his youth to building the party. “I didn’t come into politics to make my career. I became a founding member of a political party. I gave 15 years of my prime youth to this party with my blood, sweat, and a lot of hard work,” he added.
Chadha said he had increasingly felt out of place within the party, calling himself “the right man, but in the wrong party”. He noted that he had considered multiple options before making his move, including quitting politics altogether or attempting internal reform, before ultimately choosing to join another political platform.
His exit was part of a broader shift, with six other AAP Rajya Sabha MPs - Ashok Kumar Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Kumar Pathak, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Swati Maliwal, and Rajinder Gupta - also quitting the party to join the BJP on Friday (April 24). All seven are now counted among the BJP’s 113 members in the Rajya Sabha.
‘Disappointment, disenchantment, and disgust’
Rejecting speculation that his decision was driven by pressure or fear, Chadha said it stemmed from “disappointment, disenchantment, and disgust”. He also argued that the scale of the resignations pointed to a broader issue within the party. “One person can be wrong, two people can be wrong, but not seven people can be wrong,” he said.
Chadha maintained that his departure from AAP would not mark a retreat from public life. He said he would continue to remain politically active and raise public concerns. “I will continue to raise your problems with more energy and enthusiasm,” he said.
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