raghav-chadha-quits-aap-joins-bjp

Raghav Chadha, once the poster boy for the Aam Aadmi Party’s national ambitions, has officially severed ties with the Arvind Kejriwal-led outfit on Friday. Chadha confirmed he is joining the Bharatiya Janata Party, a move that comes on the heels of a bruising internal fallout that saw him stripped of his role as deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha.

 

The defection is more than just a single exit. Flanked by colleagues Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal during a press conference in the capital, Chadha revealed that a full two-thirds of the AAP’s Rajya Sabha contingent has opted to invoke constitutional merger provisions to join the BJP ranks.

 

Speaking to reporters, Chadha also revealed that several other AAP MPs, including disgruntled party leader Swati Maliwal, former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta and Vikram Sahney, have also decided to join the BJP.

 

Under the anti-defection law, such a fraction allows the MPs to switch sides without losing their seats, effectively gutting AAP’s presence in the Upper House. Reflecting on his departure, Chadha struck an emotional chord, claiming the party he helped build from the ground up had lost its way. He spoke of "blood and sweat" and fifteen years of his youth dedicated to a movement he now believes has abandoned its core morals in favour of self-interest.

 

#WATCH | Delhi: Addressing a press conference with Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal, AAP MP Raghav Chadha says, "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." pic.twitter.com/K3IK4TPXml

— ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2026

 

In a final, stinging parting shot, the MP remarked that for years he had felt like the "right man in the wrong party," and was now choosing to distance himself from the AAP to get "closer to the public.

 

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,…

— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) April 24, 2026

 

"The timing of the split is particularly damaging for Kejriwal. Pathak, the party's national general secretary (organisation), and Mittal — who had only recently been tipped to replace Chadha as deputy leader — were both considered pillars of the party’s administrative and parliamentary machinery. Their departure signals a significant internal rupture, leaving the AAP to grapple with its most serious leadership crisis since its inception.

 

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