New Delhi: Dealing a body blow to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha today announced that two-third of AAP’s Rajya Sabha MPs are joining the BJP.
Present at the press conference with Chadha were Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal. Chadha said: “There are 10 AAP MPs in the Rajya Sabha, more than two-third 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, Vikram Sahney and Swati Maliwal.” He also hinted that there were more leaders in AAP who would join the BJP.
Chadha added: “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.”
Chadha was recently removed as the deputy leader of the AAP in the Rajya Sabha, with the party accusing him of not raising the issues it wanted. In his place, Ashok Mittal was appointed the party’s deputy head, and ironically he too has quit the party now.
At the press conference, Chadha said: “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 public.”
Soon after Chadha’s announcement, AAP MP Sanjay Singh held a separate press conference, describing the MPs as “traitors”.
“Punjab won’t forget these 7 MPs. They have stabbed the people of Punjab in the back,” he said. “To Modi and Amit Shah I say, this despicable game that you have played with AAP and the people of Punjab, you too will never be forgiven by the people of Punjab.”
The day after Chadha was removed a deputy leader of AAP in the Rajya Sabha, he had said, has was “silenced, not defeated”. He added that he had been stopped from speaking in the House, even though he had raised public issues. He also posted a video on social media highlighting issues he raised in the House, hours after being removed from the post.
AAP leaders denied claims that Chadha was prevented from speaking in the Upper House.
Chadha was once considered a close confidant of Arvind Kejriwal and was among the youngest MPs in India. He was known to play a key role in the party’s affairs, especially in Punjab and Delhi. The move comes after his silence on party matters. He was abroad when Kejriwal was arrested in the liquor policy case in 2024 and met him only after the leader was released six months later. He was silent when Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia were discharged in the case last month and was absent from a press conference and rally led by the former Delhi chief minister.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
-
-
-
-
