Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party supremo Arvind Kejriwal on Friday reacted to what is being seen as one of the strongest setbacks faced by his party after Raghav Chadha and six other MPs announced their decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party. Directing his attack at the BJP, Kejriwal said, “The BJP has once again betrayed Punjabis.”Kejriwal’s remarks, referencing Punjab, came minutes after his former close aide Raghav Chadha led a wave of defections to the BJP, along with several MPs.Apart from Chadha, those named in the exodus include Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, and Vikram Sahni.The Chadha-led exodus marks one of the most significant setbacks for the Kejriwal-led party since its formation in 2012, which followed the momentum of Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption movement.Raghav Chadha , along with Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal announced a split in the Aam Aadmi Party. They said that two-thirds of the party’s members in the Rajya Sabha have decided to merge with the Bharatiya Janata Party.“We have decided that we, the 2/3rd members belonging to the AAP in Rajya Sabha, exercise the provisions of the Constitution of India and merge ourselves with the BJP,” Raghav Chadha said at a press conference, which was also attended by Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal.Answering questions, Chadha said the AAP has 10 members in the Rajya Sabha, and seven of them have decided to leave the party and join the BJP.“There are 10 AAP MPs in the Rajya Sabha, more than 2/3rd of them are with us in this. They have signed and this morning we submitted the signed letter and documents to the Rajya Sabha chairman…three of them are here before you. Besides us, there are Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Swati Maliwal.”Chadha said the decision was taken because the AAP has “moved away from its core ideology” and is now working for personal benefits.“The AAP, which I nurtured with my blood and sweat, and gave 15 years of my youth to, has deviated from its principles, values and core morals. Now this party does not work in the interest of the nation but for its personal benefits…For the past few years, I could feel that I am the right man in the wrong party. So, today, we announce that I am distancing myself from the AAP and getting close to the public,” he said.This move comes just days after the AAP removed Chadha as deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha.After the announcement, several party leaders criticised Chadha and accused him of being soft towards the BJP.Chadha denied these allegations and called them a “coordinated attack.” He also rejected claims that he refused to walk out of Parliament or sign an impeachment motion against the chief election commissioner.In a post on X, Chadha said a planned campaign was being run against him.“A scripted campaign has been going on against me. Same language, same words, same allegations. This is no coincidence, but a coordinated attack. At first, I thought I shouldn’t respond. Then I thought that if a lie is repeated 100 times, some people might believe it. So, I decided to respond,” he said.
