Major Jolt to AAP as Seven Rajya Sabha MPs Join BJP
In a massive political earthquake today, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) suffered its most significant defection to date. Seven of its ten Rajya Sabha members, led by high-profile leader Raghav Chadha, officially merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The group met with the BJP leadership at the party headquarters in New Delhi to finalize the transition, a move that fundamentally alters the numerical strength of the Upper House.
The defecting group includes prominent figures such as Sandeep Pathak, the party’s former master strategist, and Ashok Mittal, the founder of Lovely Professional University. Other MPs who have switched sides include former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, and Rajinder Gupta. By having seven out of ten members join together, the group claims they meet the two-thirds constitutional requirement to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law, effectively merging the AAP’s Rajya Sabha unit into the BJP.
Addressing a packed press conference, Raghav Chadha launched a scathing attack on his former party, stating that the AAP has “strayed from its founding ideals.” He alleged that the party, which was born out of an anti-corruption movement, has now become “compromised.” Chadha remarked that he could no longer remain part of an organization where internal democracy had been replaced by a narrow, autocratic leadership style that ignored the welfare of Punjab and Delhi.
The AAP leadership reacted with fury, labeling the defectors as “traitors” who have betrayed the mandate of the people. Senior leader Sanjay Singh accused the BJP of executing “Operation Lotus” by using central agencies and financial inducements to poach their representatives. He announced that the party would immediately move the Rajya Sabha Chairman to seek the disqualification of these members, arguing that the merger is a “fraud on the Constitution.”
This development comes as a severe blow to Arvind Kejriwal’s national ambitions, especially with crucial state elections on the horizon. For the BJP, the move is a strategic triumph, bringing them closer to a comfortable majority in the Rajya Sabha. As the legal battle over the validity of this merger begins, the shift in power today marks a turning point in Indian parliamentary politics, leaving the opposition alliance in a state of shock.
