AAP's Rajya Sabha Bloc Splits: Raghav Chadha, Six MPs Join BJP

Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha announced on Friday that more than two-thirds of the party's members in the upper house are merging with the Bharatiya Janata Party, invoking constitutional provisions that will allow them to retain their parliamentary membership.

Chadha made the announcement at a press conference flanked by fellow AAP MPs Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak.

He named four additional MPs who have agreed to the switch — Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikram Sahney and Swati Maliwal — taking the total count of those backing the merger to seven, which constitutes over two-thirds of AAP's ten Rajya Sabha members, the threshold required under the Constitution to avoid disqualification.

"They have signed and this morning we submitted the signed letter and documents to the Rajya Sabha chairman," Chadha said at the press conference.

The announcement came days after AAP removed Chadha as its deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha over allegations of failing to raise key issues against the government and instead engaging in what the party described as "soft PR."

Is AAP Now 'Corrupt and Compromised', as Chadha Alleges?

In a pointed irony, Ashok Mittal, one of the MPs now joining Chadha in the merger, is the very person AAP had appointed as his replacement for the deputy leader post.

Chadha was unsparing in his criticism of his former party. "Purane AAP wohi AAP nahi rahi," he said, describing the outfit as "corrupt and compromised" and adding, "I was a right man in a wrong party."

In a longer statement at the press conference, Chadha elaborated on his reasons for leaving.

“Now this party does not work in the interest of the nation but for its personal benefits. For the past few years, I could feel that I am the right man in the wrong party. So, today, we announce that I am distancing myself from the AAP and getting close to the public,” he added.

Once among AAP's most prominent young leaders and a key face of its national ambitions, Chadha had been central to the party's outreach beyond Delhi and Punjab.

The rift between him and the party leadership had been building over recent weeks, culminating in his removal as deputy leader earlier this month, which signalled a clear breakdown in ties with the top brass.

His exit, coupled with the likely defection of a majority of AAP's upper house MPs, points to deepening fault lines within a party that had positioned itself as a transformative force in Indian politics.

The move now appears to have triggered a wider realignment within AAP's parliamentary ranks, with significant implications for the party's presence and influence in the Rajya Sabha.

(With inputs from ANI)