New Delhi: Raghav Chadha has announced his entry into the BJP, taking away with him a big chunk of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)’s Rajya Sabha members. His move deals a major blow to party chief and former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal who had demoted him weeks earlier.
Seven of the AAP’s 10 MPs, or two-thirds of its strength, in the Upper House would merge with the BJP, Chadha said at a press conference this afternoon, accusing the party that once came to power in Delhi over promises to fight corruption, of moving away from honest politics.
“We have signed and sent it (the decision to merge with the BJP) to the chairman of Rajya Sabha,” he said.
The AAP stated it would seek Chadha’s disqualification, while Kejriwal slammed the BJP for “betraying the Punjabis”.
The country’s anti-defection law exempts cases where two-thirds of lawmakers of a party decides to merge with another.
‘AAP is Corrupt, Compromised’
Harbhajan Singh and Swati Maliwal are among those merging with the BJP, Chadha said, listing Rajinder Gupta, Vikram Sahney, Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak as the four other leaders.
“The AAP that I gave 15 years of my life. Now the party has stepped away from the honest politics. I am the right man in the wrong party. I am moving away from the party and going close to people. Today, the AAP is corrupt and compromised,” the 37-year-old leader added.
After the big-ticket exits, the three Rajya Sabha MPs who remain in AAP are Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, Sanjay Singh, and ND Gupta.
Sources suggest that Chadha could be made a Union Minister after he joins the BJP.
Chadha had been with the AAP since its inception in 2012, working as a trusted lieutenant to Kejriwal, who stormed into power in Delhi in 2015 riding the wave that followed the anti-corruption movement.
Justifying his move to switch to the BJP, Chadha said that AAP is no more the same party that it used to be.
“I was the founding member of this party. We, with full commitment established the party in Punjab, Delhi and other parts. Today, AAP is corrupt and compromised. The AAP is not the old party. I don’t want to engage in the wrongdoings of AAP,” he added.
He said he had only two options: either leave politics or do the right rights. He chose the second, he indicated, adding, “We, the two-thirds sitting member AAP from Rajya Sabha will merge with the BJP.”
Pathak, who addressed the presser alongside Chadha, said he had been thinking about resigning from the AAP for the past six-seven months.
Swati Maliwal, who had in 2024 alleged that she was assaulted by one of Kejriwal’s aides, said the AAP and Kejriwal had abandoned the principles, values, and resolve for honest politics with which the party had started.
“Seeing the unchecked corruption growing in the Aam Aadmi Party under Kejriwal ji’s patronage, incidents of harassment and assault against women, the promotion of thuggish elements, and the betrayal and looting happening with Punjab, I have decided to leave the party today,” she said in an online post.
Article source: bawaal.in
