Raghav Chadha Signals Major Shift As AAP MPs In Rajya Sabha Move To BJP

On Friday, Raghav Chadha announced that a majority of Aam Aadmi Party members in the Rajya Sabha will merge with the Bharatiya Janata Party. He cited internal differences and a limited scope to serve the public.

Addressing a press conference along with party MPs Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak, Chadha said that seven out of ten AAP members in the Upper House have decided to invoke constitutional provisions to formally merge with the BJP.

“We have decided that we, the 2/3rd members belonging to the AAP in Rajya Sabha, exercise the provisions of the Constitution of India and merge ourselves with the BJP,” he stated.

Explaining his decision, Chadha said he had spent around 15 years building the party alongside Arvind Kejriwal but now felt constrained within the organisation.

“The AAP that I gave 15 years of my life. Now the party has stepped away from honest politics. I am the right man in the wrong party. I am moving away from the party and going close to people,” he asserted, adding that colleagues such as Harbhajan Singh and Swati Maliwal are also parting ways.

Raghav Chadha further said that other MPs joining the shift include Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahni.

Chadha said the decision of the two-thirds faction would enable them to bypass disqualification under the anti-defection law.

The development comes shortly after Chadha was removed from the post of Deputy Leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha.

Notably, Mittal, who had replaced him in that role, has also joined the group moving towards the BJP.

Currently, the Aam Aadmi Party has 10 members in the Rajya Sabha. A majority of them represent Punjab, the only state where the party remains in power.

Of these, seven MPs are from Punjab, including Raghav Chadha, Rajinder Gupta, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Harbhajan Singh, along with Sant Balbir Singh.

The remaining members from Delhi are Swati Maliwal, Narain Dass Gupta and Sanjay Singh.

Responding to criticism over his parliamentary performance, Raghav Chadha shared a video on the social media platform.

“With respect, to those questioning my parliamentary performance, I’ll let my work do the talking,” he further noted.

The video highlighted his interventions on issues such as:

• Data expiry,
• Paternity leave,
• Bank penalties,
• Food adulteration,
• Telecom charges,
• Taxation concerns and
• Airline baggage rules

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