From Raghav Chadha to Swati Maliwal: How did these MPs enter the Rajya Sabha on AAP tickets?

Seven of the ten Rajya Sabha MPs of the Aam Aadmi Party led by Arvind Kejriwal have moved to merge with the Bharatiya Janata Party under the anti-defection law’s two-thirds rule, which recognises such a move as a valid merger rather than defection. Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak, who had already announced their exit from AAP, joined the BJP in Delhi on Friday in the presence of party chief Nitin Nabin. The remaining four MPs, former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikramjit Singh Sahney, are expected to join the BJP subsequently.

The original selection of these MPs was carried out by the party leadership, which took into account a mix of political strategy, professional backgrounds, and organisational loyalty.

Raghav Chadha entered the Rajya Sabha from Punjab in April 2022 after AAP’s landslide victory in the state assembly elections. The party’s strong majority enabled it to secure multiple Rajya Sabha seats, with Chadha selected through internal party decision-making as one of its youngest parliamentarians.

Sandeep Pathak was also elected from Punjab in April 2022. A former IIT Delhi professor and organisational strategist, his nomination was linked to his role in building AAP’s national expansion, particularly in Punjab and Gujarat. Pathak started working behind the scenes as a strategist for the party, contributing to the 2020 Delhi and 2022 Punjab Assembly election victories.

Ashok Mittal, founder of Lovely Professional University, entered the Rajya Sabha from Punjab in the same 2022 cycle. His selection reflected AAP’s inclusion of educationists and business leaders in parliamentary representation. Mittal entered active politics in the same year, accepting the nomination to the Rajya Sabha. He was recently appointed AAP's deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha following Chadha’s removal from the position by the party.

Former cricketer Harbhajan Singh was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab in 2022. His nomination brought public recognition and sports representation into the party’s Rajya Sabha team.

Vikramjit Singh Sahney, chairman of Sun Group, also entered the Rajya Sabha in 2022 from Punjab. Known for his philanthropic work through the Sun Foundation, he represented the party’s outreach to the social and business sectors.

Swati Maliwal was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha in January 2024 from Delhi, supported by the AAP-led legislative assembly. A former chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women, she entered Parliament after years in public activism and governance roles. Nearly two years after her public fallout with Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party, Swati Maliwal has aligned with the BJP. Once close to Kejriwal, she became a vocal critic of the party. She had not resigned earlier to retain her Rajya Sabha membership.

Rajinder Gupta, a Padma Shri awardee and one of Punjab’s wealthiest industrialists was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the Aam Aadmi Party in October 2025. His nomination came after the resignation of MP Sanjeev Arora, who became an MLA and minister in the Bhagwant Mann government, leading to a bypoll. Gupta resigned earlier from key state advisory posts before his entry and was sworn in as a Rajya Sabha MP in November 2025.