26/04/2026
7 of 10 AAP Rajya Sabha MPs joined BJP using the 2/3rds rule. AAP loses Punjab leverage; BJP gains AAP’s technocrat bloc.
This is "realignment politics" + "anti-defection chess" — less about ideology, more about survival and leverage.
Why it happened: 3 main reasons
1. Internal AAP rift
Chadha was removed as AAP’s deputy leader in Rajya Sabha weeks before the switch. He said: “I did not want to be a part of their crimes. I was not eligible for their friendship because I was not a part of their crime”. Basically, he felt sidelined and accused AAP of straying from its anti-corruption roots.
2. Legal loophole + safety in numbers
Under the Constitution’s Tenth Schedule, if 2/3rds of a party’s MPs merge with another party, they don’t get disqualified. AAP has 10 RS MPs. 7 joined BJP = 70%. So Chadha didn’t defect alone — he took a bloc. That’s why it’s legal.
3. Punjab math + 2027 elections
6 of the 7 MPs are from Punjab, elected in 2022 after AAP’s big win there. With Punjab polls in 2027, BJP absorbs AAP’s ground network + young technocratic faces like Chadha, Pathak, Maliwal. For BJP, it weakens AAP in its only state. For the MPs, they bet BJP has better odds of power/ministries.
Did AAP policy “insure/push” him?
Not policy like electricity or mohalla clinics. It was internal politics
- AAP demoted him as deputy leader
- He claimed AAP moved away from “honest politics”
- He framed it as “right man in wrong party”
So yeah, AAP’s handling of leadership roles + corruption allegations created the opening. BJP just offered the off-ramp.