‘We Were Forced To Leave’: Raghav Chadha Launches Fresh Attack At AAP After BJP Shift

Raghav Chadha said more AAP MPS were opting to leave the party because it had fallen into corrupt and compromised hands.

Raghav Chadha’s departure followed tensions between him and the party.

Former AAP MP Raghav Chadha said on Saturday that he and six other MPs left the party not out of fear, but because they were forced to do so due to Kejriwal’s policies.

Chadha, once a rising star of AAP, quit the party along with six other Rajya Sabha MPs and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), turning an internal rift into a full-blown rupture. Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Swati Maliwal and Vikram Sahney were the other MPs who defected.

Speaking to reporters, Chadha said, “Every person who nurtured the Aam Aadmi Party with their blood and sweat, and was associated with the party with a lot of hopes, has either left the party or is in the process of leaving it. Every hardworking person believes that there is no scope in the party.”

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Chadha emphasised that the Aam Aadmi Party under Kejriwal was heading in the wrong direction and no one wanted to be associated with it anymore, adding that the party had fallen into “corrupt and compromised hands.”

He also said the Sheeshmahal controversy in Delhi had contributed to Kejriwal’s fall from grace and the AAP’s defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections.

“In less than a year, we are now seeing Sheeshmahal 2.0. I wonder how the few remaining good workers of the Aam Aadmi Party will respond when people in the streets and localities ask them questions about Sheesh Mahal. The Aam Aadmi Party should introspect and think about it,” he added.

ALSO READ: Why Sandeep Pathak’s Exit Is A Bigger Shock To AAP Than Raghav Chadha’s

Chadha’s Departure A New Low For AAP

The AAP has 10 members in the Rajya Sabha. Chadha’s move to quit the party with six other MPs is a strategic move under the ‘two-thirds’ rule of Parliament, under which if two-thirds of the members of a party in the House agree to merge with another party, it is treated as a valid merger and not defection.

The 37-year-old Chadha had been associated with Kejriwal since the party’s early days. A chartered accountant by profession and an alumnus of Delhi’s Modern School, he first connected with Kejriwal during the final phase of the India Against Corruption movement, when discussions were underway about forming a political party. He soon emerged as a prominent face of AAP as its national spokesperson and was appointed national treasurer at the age of 26.

However, tensions had been brewing between Chadha and AAP in recent weeks. The rift became more apparent when Chadha remained absent from key party events and campaigning, including the recent court relief to Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia in the excise policy case. Chadha had been accused of failing to represent the party’s interests in the Rajya Sabha by focusing on specific public issues and was removed as AAP’s deputy leader in the Upper House.

The split will also strengthen the BJP’s and NDA’s numbers in the Rajya Sabha, while significantly weakening AAP’s presence in Parliament and raising questions about its future as a national political force.

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