The Aam Aadmi Party has suffered its biggest political setback since its formation in 2012. The party’s Rajya Sabha MP, Raghav Chadha, along with two other party MPs, has left AAP and joined the BJP. He had previously announced a merger with the party, announcing that two-thirds of the party’s Rajya Sabha MPs were with him. With this, Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal faces the threat of a major split among MLAs in Delhi as well.
The two other MPs who attended the press conference with Raghav Chadha to announce the party’s merger with the BJP were Sandeep Kumar Pathak and Ashok Kumar Mittal. A Delhi BJP official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the online forum that the Delhi Assembly elections are still to be held.
The Aam Aadmi Party has 22 MLAs in the 70-member Delhi Assembly. A minimum of 16 members are required for them to join the BJP. This means that if Raghav Chadha’s faction succeeds in luring one more MLA, Arvind Kejriwal could lose control of the party in Delhi as well.
Sandeep Kumar Pathak has been considered the mainstay of the Aam Aadmi Party’s organization. However, he is no longer with the party leadership. He reportedly possesses significant data on the party. The party has already suffered a significant financial blow due to the simultaneous defection of seven or eight MPs, making the path in Punjab very difficult. All but one of the MPs currently leaving the AAP represent Punjab.
Raghav Chadha left the AAP with two-thirds of the MPs.
Before Friday’s incident, the Aam Aadmi Party had 10 MPs in the Rajya Sabha. Currently, those who are rumored to be leaving the party and joining the BJP are:
Raghav Chadha
Ashok Mittal
Sandeep Kumar Mittal
Harbhajan Singh
Rajinder Gupta
Vikram Sahni
Swati Maliwal
After these, the three remaining Rajya Sabha MPs in the Aam Aadmi Party are Sanjay Singh, Narayan Das Gupta, and Balbir Singh Seechewal. Surprisingly, BJP sources say that the signature of one AAP MP remains, and Balbir Singh Seechewal has removed the Aam Aadmi Party name from his ex-handle’s bio.
On Friday, Raghav Chadha dropped a bombshell on the Aam Aadmi Party by announcing that two-thirds of his fellow MPs were not only leaving the party but also merging it with the BJP. Six other MPs have also been named as doing so alongside Raghav Chadha. However, BJP insiders say the actual number is expected to be eight, with one AAP MP still left to sign the merger document.