In a massive setback to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha members on Friday (April 24, 2026) broke away and are set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), marking a significant political realignment in the Upper House. The AAP accused the BJP of running “Operation Lotus” to break and poach MPs.
Chadha, 37, said he has the support of more than two-thirds of the AAP’s strength in Rajya Sabha. The number is critical, since that’s exactly the number of lawmakers must merge with another party to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law.
During a press conference this afternoon, Chadha listed the names of six other MPs who have agreed to move to the BJP along with him: Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikram Sahney, Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak.
Chadha, who had been with the AAP since its inception over a decade ago, justified the shift as necessary since “the AAP now is corrupt and compromised.” “The AAP is not the old party. I don’t want to engage in the wrongdoings of AAP,” he said.
After the big-ticket exits, the three Rajya Sabha MPs who remain in AAP are Balbir Singh Seechewal, Sanjay Singh, and ND Gupta.
Chadha’s merger with the BJP follows a massive controversy earlier this month after the AAP removed him as its deputy leader in Rajya Sabha, a move that made their apparent rift public. The AAP had also requested the Rajya Sabha Chairman that Chadha should not be allotted time from the party’s quota to speak in the House.
The young leader confronted the move in video messages, calling it a “scripted campaign” and “coordinated action” against him.
The AAP had then accused Chadha of not joining the opposition during parliament walkouts, refusal to sign the impeachment motion against the chief election commissioner, and of raising only trivial issues since he had become “scared”.
The allegations had zero truth, he had responded. “Every lie will be exposed, and every question will be answered. For I am wounded and therefore, I am lethal,” he had said in one of his videos.
