Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Except for academic-turned-politician Sandeep Pathak — once considered the ‘Chanakya’ of AAP for playing a key role in leading it to victory in Punjab — and two — Raghav Chadha and Swati Maliwal — who were estranged, the switchover of four AAP MPs to BJP caused just as much surprise as their nominations for the coveted Rajya Sabha seats.There four — Ashok Mittal, Vikram Sahney, Rajinder Gupta and Harbhajan Singh — had no history of engagement with either the India Against Corruption movement, the precursor to AAP, or with the party before it became a political force, which with two states — Punjab and earlier Delhi — under its belt could dispense favours, including RS berths.
Their nominations, at the cost of those who were part of the anti-corruption movement, had sparked chatter about the possible reasons, with consensus being that they could be vulnerable to overtures from rivals.Chadha, Pathak and Maliwal were the only three traditional AAP members put in the upper House of Parliament as a reward for their loyalty and work in steering the party. Pathak who was credited for playing a key role in Punjab’s victory was also given the pivotal post of general secretary in-charge of organisation matters.But both Chadha and Maliwal had been estranged from AAP for sometime, with the former’s removal as the party’s deputy leader in RS only confirming what political circles had known about the state of his equations with AAP national convenor and fomer Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.In fact, when Kejriwal was arrested in the Delhi liquor ‘scam’ case in March 2024, the absence of many of its RS MPs had set the grapevine a buzz that all was not well in the AAP camp.On Friday, ED raids against Mittal, who replaced Chadha as deputy leader in RS, are being cited as the reason for the Mittal joining BJP — but the fact is that his defining credentials have always been as founder of Lovely Professional University (LPU).The other three — Sahney a businessman and social worker, Gupta an industrialist who is founder and chairman emeritus of Trident Group, and Singh, a former Indian cricketer — too were never seen as the voice of AAP on political issues both inside and outside of Parliament.But while RS seats for them raised eyebrows, it fitted in with the pattern of AAP preferring resourceful persons, including imports from rivals, over the faithful. It started after Kejriwal acquired a constituency that stretched beyond the core and became a trend when AAP became the first start-up to hold office in two states.This of RS MPs comes just a little over 14 months after AAP faced a rout on its homeground Delhi and when the party is bracing itself for a tough battle to save its govt in Punjab. The “defection” takes away the bounce the party enjoyed following Kejriwal’s discharge in the liquor case.The departures, besides denting AAP’s presence in Parliament also brings out its vulnerability as it now faces the big challenge of keeping its flock together — MLAs in Punjab ahead of the 2027 assembly.
