New Delhi, April 24
In a thunderous blow to Arvind Kejriwal’s AAP, three of its prominent Rajya Sabha faces—Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal—have crossed over to the BJP, declaring their allegiance alongside party chief Nitin Nabin.
The announcement, made by Chadha himself at a press conference, revealed that two-thirds of AAP’s Rajya Sabha contingent has resolved to merge with the saffron party under constitutional provisions. Flanked by Mittal and Pathak, Chadha claimed support from Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahney.
“This morning we submitted our signed letter to the Rajya Sabha Chairman. We had two choices—quit politics or embrace positive politics. I refused to be part of AAP’s crimes, so we chose the latter,” Chadha declared, marking his first public address since being removed as Deputy Speaker last month.
Mittal, the businessman-educationist who heads Lovely Group and serves as Chancellor of Lovely Professional University, had recently faced ED raids under FEMA. AAP leaders allege those raids were orchestrated to pave the way for “Operation Lotus.” Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann and MP Sanjay Singh accused the BJP of weaponising central agencies to poach legislators.
For AAP, the defection of Chadha, Pathak and Mittal signals not just a political setback but a deepening rift within its parliamentary ranks—one that the BJP has swiftly capitalised on.
