Raghav Chadha breaks AAP, 7 Rajya Sabha MPs merge with BJP

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, along with Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal, joined the BJP on Friday evening, shortly after their press conference.

AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha has joined the BJP along with Ashok Mittal And Sandeep Pathak. Addressing a press conference with party colleagues Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal, Chadha said, “We have decided that we, the two-third members belonging to the AAP in Rajya Sabha, exercise the provisions of the Constitution of India and merge ourselves with the BJP.”

“Besides us, there are Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikram Sahney and Swati Maliwal,” Chadha said.

This is significant because it comes at a time when the AAP is gearing up for the election in Punjab, where it is in power. If Chadha’s claims of several leaders joining the BJP with him is true, then the rebels will also be out of the purview of the anti-defection law.

Thirty-seven-year-old Chadha has been with Arvind Kejriwal since the inception of AAP. An alumnus of Delhi’s Modern School, he is a chartered accountant. Chadha met Kejriwal towards the last leg of the India Against Corruption movement when Kejriwal and others were debating whether to start a party. Soon, he became AAP’s face as its national spokesperson. He was appointed the party’s national treasurer at 26.

In the 2020 Delhi polls, Chadha was elected from the Rajinder Nagar seat and was appointed the vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board. In 2022, he was named AAP’s Rajya Sabha pick. While AAP has not spelled out the reason behind what is being seen as Chadha’s demotion, buzz about his place in the party has been doing the rounds for months now.

Mittal had earlier replaced Chadha as the Rajya Sabha deputy leader. He had then said Chadha’s removal was a “routine” procedure. Soon after his elevation, Mittal faced raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at his Jalandhar house. Mittal is also the founder-chancellor Lovely Professional University (LPU)  and, according to sources, the ED raids were linked to a money laundering probe.

Searches were also conducted at properties associated with the university and Mittal’s family members.

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AAP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha has joined the BJP along with Ashok Mittal And Sandeep Pathak. Addressing a press conference with party colleagues Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal, Chadha said, “We have decided that we, the two-third members belonging to the AAP in Rajya Sabha, exercise the provisions of the Constitution of India and merge ourselves with the BJP.”

“Besides us, there are Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikram Sahney and Swati Maliwal,” Chadha said.

This is significant because it comes at a time when the AAP is gearing up for the election in Punjab, where it is in power. If Chadha’s claims of several leaders joining the BJP with him is true, then the rebels will also be out of the purview of the anti-defection law.

Thirty-seven-year-old Chadha has been with Arvind Kejriwal since the inception of AAP. An alumnus of Delhi’s Modern School, he is a chartered accountant. Chadha met Kejriwal towards the last leg of the India Against Corruption movement when Kejriwal and others were debating whether to start a party. Soon, he became AAP’s face as its national spokesperson. He was appointed the party’s national treasurer at 26.

In the 2020 Delhi polls, Chadha was elected from the Rajinder Nagar seat and was appointed the vice-chairman of the Delhi Jal Board. In 2022, he was named AAP’s Rajya Sabha pick. While AAP has not spelled out the reason behind what is being seen as Chadha’s demotion, buzz about his place in the party has been doing the rounds for months now.

Mittal had earlier replaced Chadha as the Rajya Sabha deputy leader. He had then said Chadha’s removal was a “routine” procedure. Soon after his elevation, Mittal faced raids by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) at his Jalandhar house. Mittal is also the founder-chancellor Lovely Professional University (LPU)  and, according to sources, the ED raids were linked to a money laundering probe.

Searches were also conducted at properties associated with the university and Mittal’s family members.