‘BJP has betrayed Punjabis again’: Arvind Kejriwal after Raghav Chadha leads AAP exodus

New Delhi: am admi party supreme person Arvind Kejriwal Raghav Chadha on Friday reacted to one of the worst setbacks faced by the party after he and six other MPs announced their decision to join the Bharatiya Janata Party. Attacking the BJP, Kejriwal said, “BJP has once again betrayed the people of Punjab.”Kejriwal made these remarks while referring to Punjab. Minutes earlier, his former close aide Raghav Chadha and several Congress MPs led a wave of defections to the BJP.

Apart from Chadha, those named in the exodus include Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan SinghRajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahni.Chadha’s exit marks one of the most significant setbacks for Kejriwal’s party since it was founded in 2012, following the momentum of Anna Hazare’s anti-corruption campaign.Raghav Chadha along with Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal announced the split of the Aam Aadmi Party. They said that two-thirds of the members of the Lok Sabha have decided to merge with the BJP.“We have decided that we as 2/3 members of the BJP in the Union House will implement the provisions of the Constitution of India and merge with the BJP,” Raghav Chadha said at a press conference. Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal were also present at the press conference.Replying to a question, Chadha said that AAP has 10 members in the Union House, seven of whom have decided to quit the party and join the Bharatiya Janata Party.“There are 10 AAP MPs in the Rajya Sabha and more than two-thirds of them support us. They have signed the agreement and we submitted signed letters and documents to the Rajya Sabha Chairman this morning… three of them are just before you. Apart from us, there are Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Swati Maliwal.”Chadha said the decision was taken because AAP has “deviated from its core ideology” and is now working for personal gain.“The AAP, which I cultivated with my blood and sweat and dedicated 15 years of my youth to, has deviated from its principles, values ​​and core morals. Now this party is not for national interests, but for personal interests… In the past few years, I have felt that I was the right person and joined the wrong party.” So, today, we are announcing that I will distance myself from the AAP and stay in close contact with the public,” he said.Just a few days ago, AAP sacked Chadha from his post as deputy leader in the Lok Sabha.Following the announcement, several party leaders criticized Chadha and accused him of being soft on the BJP.Chadha denied the accusations and called them a “coordinated attack.” He also denied claims that he refused to quit parliament or sign an impeachment motion against the chief electoral commissioner.Chadha said in a post on X that a campaign was being planned against him.“A planned campaign against me has been going on. The same language, the same wording, the same accusations. This was not a coincidence, but a coordinated attack. At first, I thought I shouldn’t respond. Then I thought, if a lie is repeated 100 times, some people might believe it. So, I decided to respond,” he said.