Rajya Sabha chairman accepts merger of 7 AAP MPs with BJP despite AAP’s plea

Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan on April 27 accepted the merger of seven Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MPs with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), formalising a major shift in the composition of the Upper House.

The seven MPs — including Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, Vikramjit Sahney and Rajinder Gupta — had earlier announced their exit from the AAP and submitted a request to be recognised as BJP members, which has now been approved.

Following the decision, the AAP’s strength in the Rajya Sabha has dropped sharply from 10 to 3 members, while the BJP’s tally has risen to 113, strengthening its position in the House.

The development comes days after the seven MPs declared their merger with the BJP, citing internal differences and alleging that the party had moved away from its founding principles.

The AAP, however, has challenged the move and approached the Rajya Sabha Chairman seeking disqualification of the defecting MPs. Party leaders have termed the merger unconstitutional and alleged that the switch undermines the mandate given by voters.

Under the anti-defection law, a merger is considered valid if at least two-thirds of a party’s legislators agree to join another party — a condition that appears to have been met in this case.

The decision marks a significant political setback for Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP, while boosting the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance’s strength in the Upper House.

Earlier, AAP had moved a petition before the Chairman seeking their disqualification, arguing that the switch did not qualify as a valid merger under anti-defection provisions.