Raghav Chadha, other AAP MPs join BJP. What it means for Kejriwal's party ahead of next year's Punjab assembly polls

It's official now. Raghav Chadha finally announced on 24 April that he is joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with six other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha Members of Parliament (MPs).

This comes days after his fallout with the Arvind Kejriwal-led party. Chadha addressed a press conference and said that seven out of 10 Rajya Sabha MPs of AAP are set to merge with the BJP.

"As per the Constitution, two-thirds of the total MPs of a party can merge with another party," Chadha said.

Within hours, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal accused the BJP of betraying the people of Punjab. "The BJP has once again betrayed Punjabis," Kejriwal said in a post on X.

The other AAP MPs named by Chadha include Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikram Sahney, and Swati Maliwal. Later, Chadha, Pathak and Mittal joined the BJP at the saffron party headquarters in the national capital.

Ahead of Punjab polls

Punjab is a keyword here. Of these seven MPs who have decided to switch sides, six, including Chadha, represented AAP in the Rajya Sabha from Punjab. They were elected in 2022 after the AAP won a landslide in the Punjab Assembly Elections.

Friday's coup of sorts by sulking Chadha leaves AAP with only three Rajya Sabha MPs. And of these, the only one from Punjab is environmentalist spiritual guru Balbir Singh Seechewal. The other two are Sanjay Singh and ND Gupta – from Delhi where AAP was in power till 2025.

The split is also a major setback for the state's ruling party, coming months before the 2026 Punjab assembly elections. AAP has been in power in Punjab under Bhagwant Mann and was in opposition in the previous term.

In the 2022 Punjab assembly elections, AAP won a landslide, bagging 92 seats in the 117-member house. The AAP lost power in Delhi to the BJP in 2025.

Chadha claimed that nearly two-thirds of AAP's Rajya Sabha MPs had quit the party and would join the BJP as a separate faction.

The anti-defection law

Under India’s anti-defection law (Tenth Schedule), if a Rajya Sabha MP voluntarily gives up party membership, they can be disqualified. So, Chadha could lose his Rajya Sabha seat.

But as per the same Constitution's Tenth Schedule, which sets out the regulations concerning disqualification on the basis of defection. A member of the Rajya Sabha is exempt from anti-defection disqualification if two-thirds of his/her party’s legislators together agree to merge with another party.

The AAP has 10 Rajya Sabha MPs, of which seven, or two-thirds, have parted ways as per Chadha. This provision protects such a large group from disqualification from the Rajya Sabha as long as all six others stand by him.

In case even one of the seven MP's decide to overturn the decision, it would be difficult for six others to save their Rajya Sabha seat which is otherwise to end in 2028. .

Operation Lotus: Sanjay Singh

AAP leader Sanjay Singh also accused the BJP of 'Operation Lotus', and said that the people of Punjab will not forgive the seven who quit. Singh, the AAP Rajya Sabha MP, accused the party of conspiring to obstruct the Bhagwant Mann government's good work in Punjab.

"The people of Punjab will never forgive the MPs who deserted the Aam Aadmi Party, Singh said.

The defection by Chadha and others is another jolt to Kejriwal's party, which lost high-stakes Delhi Assembly Elections to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2025.

Why was Chadha not expelled?

Chadha has had issues with AAP for a long time. He made videos criticising many decisions the AAP and Kejriwal took. Yet he was not sacked by his bosses. Why? Why couldn't AAP oust him?

Under the rules, if a party expels an MP or MLA, the member does not automatically lose membership in that house. In Chadha's case, if AAP expels him, he would still remain a Rajya Sabha MP.

For AAP to justify expulsion, Chadha's anti-party activities had to be proved, which, anyway, would not be easy as the case would be decided by the Rajya Sabha Chairperson, who is usually close to the ruling party at the Centre — the BJP.

Instead, Raghav mobilised six other MPs to protect himself from any anti-defection provisions under the law.