Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Raghav Chadha has resigned from the party and, together with six other AAP MPs, joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Chadha said more than two-thirds of AAP’s Rajya Sabha members agreed to “merge” with the BJP and that the necessary procedural formalities have been completed. Under India’s anti-defection law, a merger supported by two-thirds of a party’s legislators exempts members from disqualification, and the move effectively reduces AAP’s Rajya Sabha strength from 10 members to three.
AAP leaders have strongly contested the defections. Senior party leader Sanjay Singh said he will write to the Rajya Sabha chairman seeking disqualification of Chadha and the six other MPs, arguing that the anti-defection statute does not legally recognise splits, breakaway factions or groups in either house of Parliament irrespective of claimed majorities. Singh described the MPs’ decision to join the BJP as “completely unconstitutional and illegal.”
The development comes ahead of the 2027 Punjab assembly elections, where AAP has been a major political force, and is likely to have immediate implications for parliamentary arithmetic and regional political calculations.
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Other notes: A heatwave alert has been issued for Delhi, with maximum temperatures expected between 42–44°C. The live blog covering these developments closed on April 25, 2026, with a thank-you message to readers.