Raghav Chadha, 6 other AAP Rajya Sabha MPs to join BJP

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Friday announced the merger of two-thirds of the party’s House members - 7 out of 10 - with the BJP, citing “suffocation” and lack of opportunity to serve people in the outfit that he founded with Arvind Kejriwal a decade ago.

Addressing a press conference along with AAP MPs Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak, Chadha said, “We have decided that we, the 2/3rd members belonging to the AAP in Rajya Sabha, exercise the provisions of the Constitution of India and merge ourselves with the BJP.”

“The AAP that I gave 15 years of my life. Now the party has stepped away from honest politics. I am the right man in the wrong party. I am moving away from the party and going close to people,” he said, adding that Rajya Sabha party colleagues like Harbhajan Singh and Swati Maliwal are among those parting ways with the AAP.

The seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs are joining the BJP within days of Chadha’s demotion in the House from the post of Deputy Leader of the party for allegedly not raising key issues against the government.

Interestingly, Ashok Mittal, who replaced Chadha as the new party Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha, has also joined him in the merger with the BJP.

Amid the rift with the party, Chandha posted a video and wrote, “With respect, to those questioning my parliamentary performance, I’ll let my work do the talking.”

The video featured a compilation of his interventions and questions raised in the Rajya Sabha, highlighting a wide range of public policy issues he has addressed.

In the video, Chadha is seen raising concerns on several matters, including the problem of data expiry, the need to make paternity leave a legal right, and the demand to end minimum balance penalties in banks. He also spoke about issues such as food adulteration, incoming call charges, 28-day recharge scam, taxation concerns, and excess baggage charges in airlines.