&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal formally join BJP after quitting AAP")
Rajya Sabha MPs Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak, who resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of party chief Nitin Nabin in Delhi on Friday (April 24). The remaining four MPs, former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahney, will join the BJP later.
Nabin welcomed the leaders and marked the occasion by distributing sweets as they formally entered the party
The development comes as over two-thirds of AAP’s Rajya Sabha MPs announced their decision to merge with the BJP, effectively bypassing disqualification under the anti-defection law.
Chadha, once among AAP’s most prominent faces, said the party had “completely deviated from its principles, values, and core morals”. “The party is no longer working in the national interest but for personal gain,” he said while addressing a joint press conference with Pathak and Mittal.
The shift has significantly altered AAP’s strength in the Upper House. With seven out of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs backing Chadha’s move, only Sanjay Singh, Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal and N Gupta remain with the party.
Sources indicated that other MPs, including former cricketer Harbhajan Singh and Rajinder Gupta, are also set to support the switch. The two-thirds threshold protects the defecting MPs from disqualification under existing parliamentary rules.
AAP leadership hits back
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal reacted sharply, stating that the BJP had “once again given Punjabis a shove”. Meanwhile, Sanjay Singh accused the BJP of running “Operation Lotus” to destabilise the party and obstruct governance in Punjab.
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Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann called the defecting leaders “traitors” and said they no longer represent the people of the state. “The BJP finishes every party it aligns with. The people of Punjab stand firmly with us,” Mann said, asserting that the move would not impact his government’s development agenda.
The meeting between Chadha and Nabin at the BJP headquarters marks a decisive moment in the ongoing political churn, with national implications for both AAP and the BJP.
