Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Apr 27: Even as the Rajya Sabha chairman and Vice-president CP Radhakrishnan on Monday approved the “merger” of the seven rebels of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) into the BJP raising its strength in the Upper House to 113, the AAP launched a scathing attack on the group leader Raghav Chadha for “conspiring” against the party “that gave you everything.”
The AAP had suffered a massive setback on April 24 when seven of its 10 members in the Rajya Sabha, constituting two-third of the party’s total strength, announced that they were quitting Mr Arvind Kejriwal’s party and would join the BJP en masse, marking a significant political realignment in the Upper House.
The MPs are Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Kumar Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, Rajendra Gupta and Vikramjit Singh Sahney. Following the merger of the AAP MPs, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal said the BJP has once again betrayed the people of Punjab.
In a post on X, he said, “The BJP has once again betrayed Punjabis.” The AAP said the BJP had triggered ‘Operation Lotus’ to halt the pro-people work being carried out by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab.
The rift between the AAP and the rebels led by Chadha widened further on Monday with hours after Chadha issued a video message detailing his reasons for a switch to the BJP, AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj posted a video in which he rebutted his former colleague’s “toxic work environment” in the party claims. Chadha’s marriage to actor Parineeti Chopra, which party claimed had become possible because he was made an MP, also found mention in Bharadwaj’s counter-attack.
The AAP MLA said Chadha was not facing criticism for leaving the party but for hatching “a conspiracy” against it. “A party that gave you everything… You are even married because this party made you a Rajya Sabha member,” Bharadwaj said.
Raghav Chadha and noted Bollywood actress Parineeti Chopra tied the knot in a private ceremony in Udaipur’s Taj Lake Palace in September 2023. Their wedding was attended by former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann. Notably, the actor had come out in support of her husband when he was replaced as AAP’s deputy leader in Rajya Sabha recently. She had re-shared a clip that showed Raghav Chadha raising important issues in Parliament.
In a video posted on Monday morning, Chadha had compared his quitting the AAP with an employee in a company leaving a “toxic workplace.” In response, Bharadwaj said “ideology” didn’t factor when switching companies but it did when switching political parties.
While he agreed that Chadha had all the right to leave a party, but said: “Even when you switch jobs you give a three-month notice to your owner for a smooth transition.” He further added, “Though it’s not the same but even when people switch jobs, they don’t hatch conspiracy against their parent company. For more than a year, Raghav conspired with BJP’s Central Govt to create a neutral image of a young politician who raises middle class issues,” Bharadwaj said.
Days after announced the exit of seven MPs, including himself, from the AAP, Raghav Chadha launched a fresh attack on the party, detailing reasons why he switched to the BJP. “I gave this party 15 years of my prime youth…However, this party is longer the same. You’re stopped for doing your work, from speaking in Parliament. This party is now caught up in the hands of a corrupt few who work for personal gains. I felt like I was the right person in the wrong party,” Chadha claimed.
Meanwhile, another AAP Rajya Sabha member Balbir Singh Seechewal said only Chadha could explain why he opted to join the BJP. “After that what happened… we only got to know later… when we saw the news on the television – that seven members had resigned,” he said, while also playing down any suggestion their loss will hurt the AAP in Punjab, particularly amid rumours over 60 MLAs could also make the switch.
The AAP is in power in Punjab with 92 of the state’s 117 seats. “All of them were in touch with him (Chadha) because he gave them the ticket. All of them, for the past three years, had been following him. But they are associated with the party,” he said. Chadha was widely credited with a key role in the AAP’s big win in the 2022 election.
Pressed about the chance some MLAs could leave, he said, “I don’t think so… we see all circumstances. But the election is coming in eight-nine months. Everyone has to think about themselves. Now we can’t say anything.”
And Seechewal also confirmed Chadha had offered to buy him tea at the Parliament canteen when the last session was going on. “One day, Chadha said, ‘Baba ji, let’s have tea and sit and talk’. But my only aim was to go to our room. I didn’t want to be in the canteen.”
“I don’t know what was on his mind,” Seechewal said, “There is another MP, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, who told me on the phone that they are making a separate group in parliament.” Balbir Singh Seechewal was one of three AAP MPs in the Upper House who did not join Raghav Chadha and the other six in joining the BJP.
With the joining of the seven AAP rebels in the BJP, the total strength of the NDA in the upper house went up to 148 including BJP 113, TDP 2, JD (U) 4, Shiv Sena 2, RLD 1, JD (S) 1, AGP 1, NCP 4, AIADMK 5, RPI (Athawale) 1, Rashtriya Lok Morcha 1, and United People’s Party (Liberal) 2, apart from 7 nominated members who haven’t yet joined the BJP.