A dramatic political development took place on Friday when Raghav Chadha and three other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MPs officially joined the BJP. The move comes just days after Chadha was removed as AAP’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha. Notably, Chadha’s replacement in the Rajya Sabha, Ashok Mittal, is also among those switching sides. The timing has added a layer of political intrigue to what is already being seen as one of the most significant intra-parliamentary shifts involving AAP.
Chadha has claimed that other “disgruntled” MPs include Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikram Sahney and Swati Maliwal. It is not however clear if they have defected from the Arvind Kejriwal-led party. Chadha said that the move meets the constitutional threshold required to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law.
After the announcement, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said he would move to disqualify Chadha, Mittal and Pathak from the Upper House. In a post on X, Singh said he would write to the Rajya Sabha chairman seeking their disqualification under the anti-defection law.
Who are the 7 AAP MPs switching to BJP?
Of the seven MPs named by Chadha, six are from Punjab. They were elected in 2022 when AAP swept the state Assembly elections. The concentration of defectors from a single state unit suggests deeper political churn within the party’s Punjab leadership and parliamentary wing. Chadha himself was among the youngest Rajya Sabha members when he entered the House in 2022.
A chartered accountant by training, he rose quickly within AAP’s ranks, handling key organisational and strategic roles. His recent removal as deputy leader of the Upper House had already signalled internal friction.
Mittal, the founder of Lovely Professional University, had taken over that role soon after Chadha’s exit. Soon after his elevation, Mittal’s residence in Jalandhar was searched by the ED reportedly in connection with a money laundering probe. Mittal, who is also the founder-chancellor of Lovely Professional University, jumped ship with Chadha.
The group of defecting MPs represents a cross-section of backgrounds. Pathak has been a key organisational strategist for AAP. Pathak, who largely operated behind the scenes, played a key role in shaping the party’s strategy during the 2020 Delhi Assembly elections and the 2022 Punjab polls. He has not publicly stated the reasons for his exit from the party.
While Harbhajan Singh brought sporting prominence into politics, Gupta and Sahney represented business and industry. Maliwal was a prominent voice on women’s rights, having previously headed the Delhi Commission for Women.
Maliwal had alleged in 2024 that she was brutally assaulted at the chief minister’s residence by Bibhav Kumar, a PA to Arvind Kejriwal. Strains in Maliwal’s relationship with Kejriwal had been building for some time. Like Raghav Chadha, she was also away from Delhi during the period when Kejriwal was arrested in connection with the excise policy case.
The political coup has reduced AAP’s strength in the Rajya Sabha to just three MPs. Of these, only environmentalist and spiritual leader Balbir Singh Seechewal represents Punjab, while Sanjay Singh and ND Gupta are from Delhi.
How the merger passes the legal test
Under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India, legislators can avoid disqualification if at least two-thirds of a party’s members agree to merge with another party. With seven out of 10 MPs backing the decision, the group comfortably crosses that threshold.
“We, two-thirds of the Members of Parliament belonging to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the Rajya Sabha, will exercise the provisions of the Constitution of India and merge with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),” Chadha said in a statement and a post on X.
Kejriwal’s ‘blue-eyed’ boy
Chadha, the 37-year-old face of the AAP’s next generation leadership, has dealt a significant setback to the party with his exit just a year before the Punjab Assembly elections. A founding member of the AAP, Chadha was once seen as the “de facto Chief Minister of Punjab” and a key architect of the party’s rise in the state.
A London-educated chartered accountant, Chadha enjoyed close proximity to AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal and was widely regarded as one of his most trusted strategists. However, cracks began to appear after the imprisonment of senior AAP leaders, including Kejriwal, in the liquor policy case. Chadha’s growing distance from party affairs and his prolonged silence on key issues reportedly caused unease within the leadership.
The rift became formal earlier this month when he was removed as the party’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha on April 2.