Raghav Chadha resigns from AAP, announces merger with BJP along with two-thirds of MPs
New Delhi, April 24: A major split has emerged in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday. 07 AAP MPs, i.e. two-thirds, including Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha, have announced to leave the party and merge with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
In a press conference held at Constitution Club in Delhi, Rajya Sabha members Raghav Chaddha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal announced to merge with BJP along with announcing to leave the party.
Raghav Chadha claimed that โThe Aam Aadmi Party has 10 members in the Rajya Sabha, more than two-thirds of whom signed the consent letter. This morning, the signed letters and documents from all seven members were submitted to the Rajya Sabha Chairman. Three of them are present here before you. Besides them, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikram Sahni, and Swati Maliwal are also present.โ
Chadha said, โFor years, you have been asking me why I wasnโt participating in the Aam Aadmi Partyโs activities and why I seemed to be distant. At that time, I said nothing and waited for the situation to improve. But today, I want to reveal the real reason: I didnโt want to be involved in their โcrimes.โ
I didnโt deserve their friendship because I didnโt participate in their wrongdoings.โ
He alleged that the party he nurtured with his blood and sweat has deviated from its core principles. Now, itโs not working for the nationโs benefit but for its own selfish interests. โFor the past few years, Iโve felt like I was the right person in the wrong party, so today I announce that Iโm distancing myself from the Aam Aadmi Party and moving closer to the public.โ
According to Raghav Chadha, after the announcement of seven Rajya Sabha members joining the BJP, the AAP now has only three representatives in the Upper House: Sanjay Singh, ND Gupta, and Balbir Singh Sichewal. Sources indicate that Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Singh, and Ashok Mittal will soon meet with BJP National President Nitin Naveen to formally join the BJP.
Under the anti-defection law, if two-thirds or more of a partyโs MPs or MLAs leave the party simultaneously, their membership is not revoked. This provision falls under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. The BJP has 106 members in the Rajya Sabha. With the merger of the seven Aam Aadmi Party members, this number will increase to 113.
On April 2 this month, AAP had removed Raghav Chadha from the post of Deputy Leader of the party in Rajya Sabha and also banned him from speaking in the House. In his place, the party had handed over the responsibility of the post of Deputy Leader of the party in Rajya Sabha to MP Ashok Mittal.
The storm created by this action has caused a major split within the party. On April 3, the day after the action, Raghav Chadha issued a sharp response via social media, saying, โI have always raised public issues in Parliament. I am there to pressure the government, not to create a ruckus.โ In a filmy style, he said, โEvery lie will be exposed because I am injured, hence dangerous.โ
The controversy that began with the action on April 2 escalated into a major political crisis for the AAP within 22 days.
Who is Raghav Chadha?
Raghav Chadha was born on November 11, 1988, in Delhi. He completed his schooling from Modern School, Barakhamba Road, Delhi. He received a bachelorโs degree from Sri Venkateswara College, Delhi University, and later became a Chartered Accountant (CA) from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).
He met Arvind Kejriwal during the Anna movement in 2013. Appointed the partyโs youth spokesperson, Raghav Chadha helped draft the Delhi Lokpal Bill in 2012 and was a member of the Aam Aadmi Partyโs manifesto team in 2013.
He also served as the partyโs treasurer. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the party fielded him for the South Delhi parliamentary seat, but he lost. Subsequently, he won the Rajendra Nagar seat in Delhi in the 2020 Assembly elections. In 2022, the party nominated him to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab. At the time, Raghav Chadha was 33 years old, becoming the youngest MP.
