Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan has formally accepted the merger of seven former Aam Aadmi Party MPs – Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal and Rajinder Gupta, with the Bharatiya Janata Party, marking a major realignment in the Upper House. The BJP’s tally has now risen to 113, strengthening the NDA’s position as the party prepares for the next phase of legislative business under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The move follows the group’s dramatic exit from the AAP on April 24, when they announced their departure in a single coordinated statement. Six of the seven MPs are from Punjab, leaving the AAP with just one Rajya Sabha member from the state – Balbir Singh Seechewal, and severely denting the party’s national presence in the House. Union minister Kiren Rijiju welcomed the shift on social media, calling it a “nation‑building” step under Modi’s leadership and taking a swipe at the AAP‑led INDIA alliance.
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Raghav Chadha, who co‑founded the AAP and served it for 15 years, has since intensified his public critique of the party, accusing it of a “toxic” internal culture, centralized decision‑making and a drift from its original ideals. He alleged that honest MPs were sidelined and that a “corrupt few” increasingly controlled the organisation. The BJP, by contrast, has portrayed the new entrants as disciplined, effective parliamentarians who avoided un‑parliamentary conduct, turning their defection into both a numerical and symbolic gain ahead of upcoming legislative sessions.
