Maliwal referred to allegations of physical assault at Kejriwal’s residence and said the Aam Aadmi Party was now known for “lies, corruption and hooliganism.”
Former AAP MP Swati Maliwal. (PTI/File)
Swati Maliwal, who was among the seven AAP MPs who defected to the BJP on Friday, said her former party had strayed too far from its original principles, and former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was no longer the same.
After losing power in Delhi last year, AAP suffered a massive setback when Raghav Chadha, once a prominent face of the party, officially resigned along with six other MPs to join the BJP. Maliwal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh and Ashok Mittal were some of the defectors.
“I left my home, lived in slums for seven years, quit my job and supported every movement. But when I tried to file an FIR after being assaulted, I was beaten up at Kejriwal’s residence by his aide,” Maliwal told PTI, adding that she was “threatened and pressured” to withdraw her case.
“For two years, I was put under pressure to take my case back, but I did not bow down. Because of this, I was not given even a minute to speak in Parliament by the party,” she said.
Maliwal was referring to the case in 2024, where she accused a close aide of Kejriwal of physically assaulting her at his residence. The incident marked the beginning of a deep internal divide within the party. Since the incident, Maliwal has been an outspoken critic of Kejriwal and has distanced herself from the party’s interests.
ALSO READ: How Kejriwal’s AAP Lost The Plot: From Swati Maliwal’s Assault Row To Raghav Chadha’s Exit
‘No One Can Work With Kejriwal’
Maliwal further said the AAP had completely changed and is now known for “lies, corruption and hooliganism”, adding that people are now leaving because of Kejriwal. “No good person can work with him for long. He says one thing and does another,” she added, warning of more defections.
She further said that Kejriwal had once projected herself as a “common man”, but was not building multiple “sheeshmahals” in Delhi. She also accused him of running the Punjab government through “remote control” after AAP’s loss in Delhi.
She further praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said her decision to join the BJP came after careful consideration. “Under his leadership, India is progressing rapidly and has emerged strong globally due to his diplomacy,” she added.
Maliwal also rejected claims that leaders were joining the BJP due to fear of agencies like the ED and CBI, saying, “I am not someone who can be scared. I have joined wholeheartedly. If I wanted, I could have joined two years ago.”
Earlier, Maliwal alleged in a post on X that the founding ideals of honesty and transparency that defined AAP have now been “abandoned”, after the exodus of seven MPs from the party.
The merger will provide the BJP-led NDA with a substantial boost in the Upper House, moving it closer to a functional majority that could ease the passage of controversial legislation. The AAP’s strength in the House has been significantly diminished with the defection.
READ MORE: ‘We Were Forced To Leave’: Raghav Chadha Says AAP Moving On ‘Wrong Path’ After BJP Shift
April 25, 2026, 16:49 IST
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