CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has sought time from President Droupadi Murmu to present his case over the defection of seven Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MPs to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and seek their recall from the Upper House.
Sources said Mann is also likely to meet the President along with party MLAs to outline AAP’s position on the issue. The MPs who reportedly switched sides include Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta and Vikramjit Singh Sahney from Punjab, while Swati Maliwal was elected from Delhi.
According to sources, since seven of the 10 AAP MPs have merged with the BJP, the anti-defection law may not apply as it requires a two-thirds majority for recognition of a merger.
Meanwhile, the party is also said to be concerned over the exit of Sandeep Pathak, who played a key role in shaping AAP’s organisational strategy.
In Punjab, AAP workers staged protests outside the residences and offices of Rajinder Gupta in Ludhiana and Ashok Mittal and Harbhajan Singh in Jalandhar, raising slogans of “Punjab de Gaddar.”
In Jalandhar, senior AAP leader Pawan Kumar Tinu said the party would return to power in Punjab in 2027 and alleged that the BJP had “poached” AAP Rajya Sabha MPs “by hook or crook”. He also accused the Congress, BJP and Akali Dal of forming an “unholy alliance” against AAP, claiming their leaders were making similar remarks about possible defections of AAP MLAs.
AAP Punjab Youth Wing Acting President Parminder Goldy led a protest outside the residence of Rajinder Gupta, with party workers raising slogans of “Punjab de Gaddar murdabad”. He said the people of Punjab would not forgive what he called a betrayal of trust.
Meanwhile, the party is reportedly uneasy over the exit of Sandeep Pathak, who is said to have played a key role in building AAP’s organisational structure before the 2022 Assembly elections. Party sources said his knowledge of the organisation could be strategically significant for the BJP ahead of the Punjab polls.
Raghav Chadha’s claim that he has the support of 63 MLAs has also added to internal unease, though the AAP leadership has downplayed the possibility of a large-scale defection.
Party sources said such claims could, however, embolden legislators to assert greater autonomy in their constituencies, where multiple power centres already exist alongside MLAs and organisational functionaries. Some MLAs, speaking on condition of anonymity, have expressed dissatisfaction over what they described as control from the “Delhi lobby”.
Chadha had earlier said the MPs’ decision followed a belief that the Arvind Kejriwal-led party had deviated from its core principles. Describing himself as the “right man in the wrong party”, he said seven of the ten AAP Rajya Sabha members had exercised constitutional provisions to merge with the BJP.