Raghav Chadha, the vocal Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP, announced today that he is quitting the party and joining the BJP.
Chadha and six other MPs have submitted a letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan on the matter.
This development marks a major setback for AAP and its leader, Arvind Kejriwal.
Chadha says he was the “right man in the wrong party".
Chadha, 37, claimed that about two-thirds of AAP's Rajya Sabha MPs are leaving the party to join the Lotus party.
The possible defectors include Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh (ex-cricket star)
Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahney.
This effectively brings down the AAP's strength in the Rajya Sabha from 10 to just three (Sanjay Singh, Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, and ND Gupta). Now, since two-thirds of AAP MPs are jumping ship, the anti-defection law is unlikely to come into play.
Chadha, once considered a close aide of Arvind Kejriwal, also hinted that there were more leaders in AAP who would join the BJP. However, for now, the focus is on the seven AAP MPs who are set to join the BJP. Interestingly, the list includes Ashok Mittal, who was appointed by the AAP as Chadha's replacement in the Rajya Sabha.
Addressing the media along with senior AAP MPs Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak, Chadha said he had dedicated 15 years to the party but felt it had moved away from the "honest politics" it once championed.
"The AAP that I gave 15 years of my life to... 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 closer to the people," he said.
"As per the Constitution, two-thirds of the total MPs of a party can merge with another party," Chadha said. "We have submitted a letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan in this regard today... submitting all the documents required."
The split in the AAP parliamentary wing and the BJP's keenness to embrace the seven lawmakers in the Rajya Sabha is beyond the politics of number game in Parliament.
It would be linked to BJP's plans for Punjab where elections are due by March 2027 along with UP and states such as Manipur, Uttarakhand and Goa.
Celebrities like Harbhajan Singh will do miracles in the agrarian state. Moreover, Chadha himself is only 37 and will appeal well to the Gen Zee. His wife actress Parineeti Chopra's popularity will also come handy.
This mass exit comes weeks after Chadha was removed as AAP's deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha and replaced by Ashok Mittal. There have been reports of growing internal tensions, including differences with the party leadership over various issues.
Reacting to the move, AAP leader Sanjay Singh held a press conference to slam the seven MPs.
"The Bharatiya Janata Party, under Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, has launched 'Operation Lotus', which is being described as a game of cheap politics and an attempt to obstruct the good work of the Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab on a large scale," Singh claimed.
Kejriwal had serious issues with Swati Maliwal as well.
Maliwal has alleged sometime back that she was "brutally beaten" and treated with indecency at Kejriwal's residence by a staff member on his orders.
She criticized AAP leadership for backing "thuggish elements" and alleged she faced threats. She also highlighted Kejriwal's "Sheeshmahal" bungalow controversy and challenged him over the polluting of the Yamuna River.
Raghav Chadha had accused the party of silencing him despite four years of raising citizen-centric issues including gig workers’ rights and food prices.
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