Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday took a sharp dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), reviving the “washing machine” metaphor after reports that several Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MPs had switched sides to the ruling party.
Reacting on social media platform X, Ramesh said leaders who had long projected themselves as symbols of “virtue, integrity and ideology” had been “brutally exposed,” alleging that the BJP’s political outreach mechanism was once again on display.
“The BJP washing machine is back, along with the Modi washing powder,” he wrote, suggesting that opposition leaders were being absorbed into the ruling party’s fold and their earlier positions were being erased.
Echoing the criticism, senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the BJP had perfected a “politics of hunting,” alleging that opposition figures were being strategically targeted and persuaded to switch sides. He also drew parallels with political operations in West Bengal, referring to similar tactics used across party lines.
The remarks came after multiple AAP Rajya Sabha MPs, including Raghav Chadha, along with Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal, reportedly broke away from the party and joined the BJP in the presence of party leaders. Additional names, including Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Swati Maliwal, were also cited as part of the group that has shifted allegiance.
Addressing the media in New Delhi, Chadha said the MPs had formally informed the Rajya Sabha Chairman about their decision in accordance with parliamentary procedure, effectively signalling a split within the party’s Upper House representation.
The development has triggered a political churn within the AAP. Party leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia met late on Friday night in Delhi to assess the situation and discuss the party’s response strategy, following Sisodia’s return from a campaign visit to Gujarat.
Meanwhile, AAP sources said the party’s chief whip in the Rajya Sabha, ND Gupta, is preparing to move the Chairman of the House, seeking action under the anti-defection law against the MPs who have publicly aligned with the BJP. The party is expected to argue that the move constitutes a formal defection, while also contesting the procedural validity of the split.
(With inputs from ANI)