24 April,2026 05:45 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondent
Arvind Kejriwal. File Pic
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday said the BJP had once again betrayed the people of Punjab after seven Rajya Sabha MPs quit the party.
Kejriwal, in a post on X, said, "The BJP has once again betrayed Punjabis."
In a big setback for the Aam Aadmi Party, three party MPs - Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal - on Friday announced a split in the party and said that two-thirds of the party's members in Rajya Sabha had decided to "merge with the BJP".
Addressing a joint press conference, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MPs Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak said they were joining the BJP.
Chadha claimed that nearly two-thirds of AAP's Rajya Sabha MPs had quit the party and would join the BJP as a separate faction.
"We have decided that we, the 2/3rd members belonging to the AAP in Rajya Sabha, exercise the provisions of the Constitution of India and merge ourselves with the BJP," Raghav Chadha said at a press conference, which was also attended by Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal.
Answering queries, Raghav Chadha said that AAP has 10 members in the Rajya Sabha and seven of them have decided to leave the party and merge with BJP.
Chadha said several Rajya Sabha MPs, including disgruntled party leader Swati Maliwal and former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, had also quit AAP.
He claimed that seven out of AAP's 10 Rajya Sabha MPs had resigned from the party.
"There are 10 AAP MPs in the Rajya Sabha, more than 2/3rd of them are with us in this. They have signed and this morning we submitted the signed letter and documents to the Rajya Sabha Chairman...three of them are here before you. Besides us, there are Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Swati Maliwal."
Chadha said that the decision stems from AAP "moving away from its core ideology" and alleged that it is now working for personal benefits.
"The AAP, which I nurtured with my blood and sweat, and gave 15 years of my youth to, has deviated from its principles, values and core morals. 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 said.
The move came 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.
