New Delhi, April 24 Effectively breaking the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), its Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Friday said that he, along with rebel MPs, has submitted the papers, documenting support of seven lawmakers on their switchover plans, to the House Chairman on Friday.
He said that the AAP legislature party in the Rajya Sabha was splitting and the faction, comprising 7 party MPs, will join the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He made the announcement during a press conference, flanked by other lawmakers – Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal.
Soon after, taking to his X handle, he posted details of submitting their ‘letter of intent’ to the Rajya Sabha Chairman.
“Today, exercising the provisions of the Constitution of India, more than two-thirds of the AAP MPs in the Rajya Sabha have merged with the BJP. Seven MPs have signed the document, which was submitted to the Hon’ble Chairman of the Rajya Sabha,” he wrote in a post.
Chadha further informed that he, along with two other MPs, personally handed over the signed documents to the Chairman.
With the vertical split, the AAP, previously with a House strength of 10 members, will now be reduced to just three, as Chadha claims to have the support of 7 MPs – all of whom would be merging with the BJP soon.
Other AAP MPs, who have decided to join ranks and take the plunge, include Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahni.
The development comes days after Raghav Chadha’s demotion in the House from the post of Deputy Leader of the party, for allegedly not raising key issues against the government.
Currently, the AAP has 10 members in the Upper House, with broad representation from Punjab – the only state where it remains in power.
Out of 10 MPs, seven are from Punjab, namely – Raghav Chadha, Rajinder Gupta, Ashok Kumar Mittal, Sandeep Kumar Pathak, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Harbhajan Singh and Sant Balbir Singh.
The lawmakers from Delhi are Swati Maliwal, Narain Dass Gupta and Sanjay Singh.
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