In a dramatic turn in national politics, senior AAP parliamentarian Raghav Chadha announced that he has resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party and will align with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claiming that a majority of his party colleagues in the Rajya Sabha are making the switch with him.

Chadha said nearly two-thirds of AAP’s 10 members in the Upper House have decided to merge with the BJP, a move that safeguards them from disqualification under the anti-defection provisions of the Constitution. He confirmed that a formal communication, along with supporting documents, has been submitted to Rajya Sabha Chairman C. P. Radhakrishnan.

Among those he named as part of the move are Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahney. AAP’s Rajya Sabha strength largely comes from Punjab, making the development politically significant for the state.

Explaining his decision, the 37-year-old leader said he had devoted over a decade to the party but believed it had strayed from the principles of clean and transparent governance that once defined its rise in Delhi. He described himself as being out of sync with the party’s current direction and said his decision was driven by a desire to reconnect with public service.

Under constitutional provisions, an individual MP who defects risks immediate disqualification unless at least two-thirds of a party’s legislators agree to merge with another formation. Chadha argued that the threshold had been met in this case.

The mass departure follows weeks of reported unease within AAP, including Chadha’s removal as deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha and speculation about internal disagreements over strategy and leadership decisions.

Responding swiftly, AAP leader Sanjay Singh accused the BJP, led by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, of engineering the split as part of what he termed “Operation Lotus.” He alleged that the move was aimed at destabilising the party and obstructing the work of the Bhagwant Mann-led government in Punjab.

The development marks one of the most significant internal ruptures in AAP’s parliamentary history and is expected to reshape equations in the Rajya Sabha in the days ahead.