NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party suffered a major blow after estranged MP Raghav Chadha, along with six other parliamentarians, left the party and decided to merge with the Bharatiya Janata Party.In a press conference, Chadha said that the decision came after MPs felt that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party had strayed from its principles, values and core morals.
Meanwhile, BJP chief Nitin Nabin welcomed the parliamentarians at the party headquarters in Delhi by offering them traditional sweets.“Welcomed Raghav Chadha Ji, Sandeep Pathak Ji, and Ashok Mittal Ji to the BJP family at the party HQ today. Also, best wishes to Harbhajan Singh Ji, Swati Maliwal Ji, Vikram Sahney Ji, and Rajinder Gupta Ji to work under the dynamic leadership of PM Narendra Modi towards the goal of Viksit Bharat 2047,” Nabin said in a post on X shortly thereafter.Why anti-defection law won’t apply to AAP MPsDespite the Tenth Schedule, the anti-defection law won’t apply to AAP MPs as it allows two-thirds of a legislature party to break away and merge with another party.The law says, “A member of a House shall not be disqualified under the Tenth Schedule if his original political party merges with another political party and he claims that he and any other members of his original political party have become members of such other political party or, as the case may be, of a new political party formed by such merger.
“Or have not accepted the merger and opted to function as a separate group and, from the time of such merger, such other political party or new political party or group, as the case may be, shall be deemed to be the political party to which he belongs for the purposes of sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 2 and to be his original political party for the purposes of this sub-paragraph,” it further says.Currently, there are 10 MPs in the Rajya Sabha from AAP. After this move, two-thirds — that is, seven — are set to merge with the BJP. If this number was any less, those wanting to merge would have to give up their Upper House membership.Hence, if Chadha had quit alone, he would have had to give up his Rajya Sabha membership. But that is not the case as the outgoing AAP leader is joined by Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahney.What’s nextMeanwhile, senior AAP leader Sanjay Singh has also announced that he will write to the Rajya Sabha Chairman to demand the disqualification of the three MPs, citing the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, which details provisions of disqualification on the grounds of defection.In a post on X, Singh said that the party would be approaching the presiding officer of the Rajya Sabha to invoke the Tenth Schedule.“I will submit a letter to the Hon’ble Rajya Sabha Chairman, in which a demand will be made to declare Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, and Sandeep Pathak disqualified from Rajya Sabha membership for joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as this is tantamount to voluntarily relinquishing membership of their original party under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution,” he said.
Meanwhile, AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal met senior party leader Manish Sisodia late last night as the party has now begun working on a new strategy.Party sources told news agency ANI that Kejriwal met Sisodia for half an hour and discussed the possible impact of the split and what the future strategy should be.“After returning to Delhi late at night, Sisodia went straight from the airport to the residence of party convenor Arvind Kejriwal. The two leaders met for more than half an hour. During the meeting, they also discussed the possible impact of the split and what the future strategy should be,” sources told ANI.Party sources said, “The chief whip in the Upper House, ND Gupta, will submit a letter to the Rajya Sabha Chairman against Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal.”“Gupta’s letter will seek action as per the anti-defection law. These three leaders were seen in public joining the BJP. The remaining four were not seen in the public domain making that move. Hence, the chief whip will lodge the complaint against the three MPs seen in the BJP office.”Why the MPs leftThis comes days after AAP removed Chadha as Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha. Following the decision, several party leaders had attacked Chadha and accused him of being soft towards the BJP.Chadha had hit back at the allegations, calling it a “coordinated attack” and denying claims that he refused to walk out of Parliament or sign an impeachment motion against the Chief Election Commissioner.
Moreover, AAP sources told news agency PTI that the exits were aimed at destabilising the party before the Assembly elections in Punjab next year and admitted that the party was on guard to keep its flock together in the state.Party insiders said the fear of action by central agencies such as the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) could have played a part in influencing the decision of some of the MPs who were businessmen from Punjab, while others were unhappy with their shrinking political role within the party.On April 15, the ED conducted raids at business entities linked to AAP Rajya Sabha MP Ashok Mittal in Punjab as part of a FEMA probe.Pathak, who was national general secretary, was feeling sidelined as his role was restricted to just the day-to-day affairs of the party, they said.In the three states where Assembly polls are to be held — Punjab, Goa and Gujarat — Pathak was not closely involved, they claimed. Instead, other senior leaders such as Atishi (Goa), Gopal Rai and Durgesh Pathak (Gujarat), and Manish Sisodia (Punjab) were steering poll preparations along with Kejriwal, they said.After the arrest of Kejriwal in the liquor policy case in 2024, Chadha’s major assignments were taken away. The big flashpoint arrived when he was removed as deputy leader of the party in the Rajya Sabha last month.