Raghav Chadha Quits AAP, Two-Thirds of Party’s Rajya Sabha MPs to Merge with BJP

New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party absorbed a significant political blow on Friday as Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, alongside fellow MPs Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal, formally announced their departure from AAP and their decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party.

The split runs deeper than three names. Over two-thirds of AAP’s Rajya Sabha MPs including former Indian cricketer Harbhajan Singh and Rajinder Gupta are set to back Chadha’s move to the BJP, effectively gutting the party’s upper house presence.

Addressing a press conference, Chadha once among AAP’s most prominent young faces and a key figure in the party’s outreach beyond Delhi and Punjab made no attempt to soften his exit.

“The Aam Aadmi Party, which I nurtured with my blood and sweat and to which I gave 15 years of my youth, has now completely deviated from its principles, values, and core morals,” he said. “The party is no longer working for the country or in the national interest, but for personal gain.”

He went further: “Many of you have been telling me this for the past few years, and I too have personally felt that I am the right man in the wrong party. I repeat, ‘I am the right man in the wrong party.’ Therefore, today I announce that I am distancing myself from the Aam Aadmi Party and going to the people.”

On the formal merger, Chadha stated: “We, two-thirds of the Members of Parliament belonging to the Aam Aadmi Party in the Rajya Sabha, will exercise the provisions of the Constitution of India and merge with the Bharatiya Janata Party.”

The writing had been on the wall. Earlier this month, AAP’s leadership had removed Chadha from his position as the party’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha a move that signalled an irreparable breakdown in his relationship with the party’s top brass.