Raghav Chadha, 2 other AAP MPs formally join BJP after exiting Kejriwal's bloc

Raghav Chadha on Friday formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party along with two of the Aam Aadmi Party’s Rajya Sabha MPs, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal, marking a major split in AAP and a significant boost to the BJP’s numbers in the Upper House.

The development was formalised after Chadha, Pathak and Mittal met BJP national president Nitin Nabin at the party headquarters in Delhi, where the group announced that around two-thirds of AAP’s Rajya Sabha MPs would merge with the BJP.



Also read: Raghav Chadha quits AAP, a party he co-founded with Arvind Kejriwal, to join BJP

“Today, exercising the provisions of the Constitution of India, more than two-thirds of the AAP MPs in the Rajya Sabha have merged with the BJP. Seven MPs have signed the document, which was submitted to the Hon’ble Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. I, along with two other MPs, personally handed over the signed documents,” Chadha wrote in a statement on X.

Rift deepens within AAP

The defection follows Chadha’s resignation from AAP earlier in the day, capping weeks of internal friction within the party. He had recently been removed as AAP’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, a move widely seen as signalling a breakdown in ties with the leadership.

Announcing his exit, Chadha said the party had strayed from its founding principles. “Purane AAP wohi AAP nahi rahi,” he said, describing it as “corrupt and compromised,” and adding, “I was a right man in a wrong party.”

The move has triggered a wider realignment within AAP’s parliamentary ranks, with over two-thirds of its Rajya Sabha MPs, around seven members, backing Chadha’s switch. Among those joining are Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, and Rajinder Gupta.

Once among AAP’s most prominent young leaders and central to its national expansion, Chadha’s exit: along with the likely defection of a majority of its Upper House MPs, underscores deepening fault lines within the party.

AAP splits: Who are leaving Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party along with Raghav Chadha?

BJP gains, war of words escalates

The shift is expected to weaken AAP’s presence in the Rajya Sabha, where it had built a modest but influential bloc, while strengthening the BJP’s legislative position.

Reacting sharply, AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of undermining Punjab’s mandate, saying the party had “once again given Punjabis a shove.”

Senior leader Sanjay Singh alleged the move was part of “Operation Lotus” aimed at destabilising opposition parties. “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,” he said.

“7 MPs were entrusted with big posts and responsibilities. They stabbed Punjab in the back,” Singh added.

Hitting back, BJP leaders defended the development. Bihar BJP chief Sanjay Saraogi said the MPs were “influenced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's global popularity” and the Centre’s “pro-people policies.”

“Due to Modi's popularity and the policies of the central government, good people from all parties are joining the BJP. We saw this in Assam with Congress leaders, and now we see it with AAP's Rajya Sabha MPs,” he said, adding that Kejriwal should focus on managing his own party.