7 former AAP MPs officially join BJP; Rajya Sabha’s NDA strength climbs to 148, AAP drops to 3

New Delhi: Seven rebel Lok Sabha MPs from the Aam Aadmi Party have officially joined the Bharatiya Janata Party as the Lok Sabha secretariat updated the party’s stance in the Upper House.A few days ago, Raghav Chadha and six MPs left the AAP and decided to merge with the BJP after being removed from the post of deputy leader of the Lok Sabha last month.“We have decided that we, two-thirds of the members of the Lok Sabha, will implement the provisions of the Indian Constitution and merge with the BJP,” Raghav Chadha told a press conference.

The BJP has 106 members and the National Democratic Alliance has 141 members (including 7 nominated members). Those totals have now risen to 113 and 148 respectively. By the end of the year, with more than 30 seats vacant, the BJP is expected to get at least five seats, close to a two-thirds majority of 163.Meanwhile, AAP MP Sanjay Singh formally requested Lok Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan to disqualify seven MPs.The petition challenges the “so-called merger” in paragraph 4 of the 10th Schedule to the Constitution and seeks the disqualification of the MP under paragraph 2(1)(a).Why anti-defection law Not applicable to AAP MPsDespite the Tenth Schedule, the anti-defection law will not apply to AAP MPs as it allows two-thirds of a party in the legislature to break away and merge with another party.The law states: “If a member of the House of Representatives whose original political party merges with another political party and he claims that he and any other member of the original party have become members of that other political party or, as the case may be, of the new political party formed after the merger, he shall not be disqualified under Schedule 10.”If the numbers were any lower, those seeking amalgamation would have to give up their membership in the House of Lords.Therefore, if Chadha withdraws alone, he will have to give up his membership of the House of Federation. But that is not the case and the outgoing AAP leaders include Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahney.

Tensions between Chadha and the party leadership have escalated for weeks, triggering drama. Earlier this month, he was sacked as deputy leader of the UP in the Lok Sabha and accused by senior leaders of engaging in “soft PR” instead of actively confronting the Center and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.His growing distance from the party has become increasingly apparent over the past year and Chadha was abroad when Kejriwal was arrested in March 2024 in the GST policy case and has remained abroad during his nearly six-month imprisonment.Senior party leaders also claimed that Chadha has been reluctant to raise issues in line with AAP’s political stance. They point out that he refused to sign a notice calling for the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and failed to participate in a strike by the opposition in Parliament.However, Chadha denied the allegations, calling them “white lies” and asked the party to provide evidence.