In a transformative shift for the Upper House, Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan has formally accepted the merger of seven Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MPs with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The decision, announced on Monday, effectively decimates the AAP's strength in the Rajya Sabha from ten members to just three, while propelling the BJP’s individual tally to a dominant 113.
The move was spearheaded by high-profile leaders Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, and Ashok Mittal, who personally met BJP President Nitin Nabin to formalize their entry into the party. The group, which also includes former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, and Rajinder Gupta, cited "suffocation" and a departure from the party’s founding anti-corruption principles as reasons for their exit. By reaching the seven-member threshold, the group claims to fulfill the two-thirds requirement under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, a legal maneuver designed to bypass disqualification under the Anti-Defection Law.
The Aam Aadmi Party has launched a fierce political counter-attack, filing a formal petition before the Rajya Sabha Chairman seeking the immediate disqualification of all seven defectors. Senior leader Sanjay Singh described the merger as a "constitutional fraud" and a "betrayal of the mandate of Punjab," alleging that the BJP utilized central agencies to coerce the MPs.
AAP has argued that a legislative merger cannot be recognised without the consent of the original political party, and that the claim of merger by the legislative wing alone is legally unsustainable. The party has indicated it may challenge the matter before the Supreme Court.
The merger fundamentally alters the legislative math in the 245-member Rajya Sabha. With the BJP now at 113 and the broader NDA bloc reaching 141, the government is significantly closer to a simple majority on its own. For the AAP, the loss of its most prominent national faces, including the architects of its Punjab victory, marks its most severe institutional crisis to date, leaving only Sanjay Singh, ND Gupta, and Balbir Singh Seechewal to represent the party in the Upper House.
