New Delhi: Shortly after announcing their resignations from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Rajya Sabha MPs Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the presence of party president Nitin Nabin here on Friday.
Four other MPs – former Team India cricketer Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahney — will join the saffron party later.
Nabin greeted Chadha, Mittal and Pathak with bouquets and sweets as other leaders welcomed the trio into BJP fold at the party office.
Welcomed Raghav Chadha Ji, Sandeep Pathak Ji, and Ashok Mittal Ji to the BJP family at the Party HQ today.
Also, best wishes to Harbhajan Singh Ji, Swati Maliwal Ji, Vikram Sahney Ji, and Rajinder Gupta Ji to work under the dynamic leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi Ji towards… pic.twitter.com/fLhcnHnO0K
— Nitin Nabin (@NitinNabin) April 24, 2026
Chadha, who joined AAP during its inception in 2012, became a close aide of party supremo Arvind Kejriwal and played a key role in the party’s 2022 Punjab Assembly election victory.
However, Chadha’s relation with the party leadership went south over the past year. Three weeks ago, the 37-year-old Chadha was removed as AAP’s deputy leader in Rajya Sabha.
On Friday, Chadha led an exodus, announcing that two-thirds of AAP MPs are quitting the party to join the BJP.
Even Mittal, who replaced Chadha as AAP’s deputy leader in Rajya Sabha, joined the ‘revolt’.
“As per the Constitution, two-thirds of the total MPs of a party can merge with another party. We have submitted a letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan in this regard today, along with all the required documents,” said Chadha, who became the youngest MP of the country in 2022.
Maliwal, who had a public fallout with Kejriwal almost two years ago, finally dissociated herself with AAP and is also set to join BJP.
AAP abandoned principles and values, says Maliwal
“In 2006, I left my job to choose the path of national service. Through the RTI movement, the Anna movement, the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party, and 8 years of dedicated work in the Delhi Women’s Commission, I contributed with complete honesty and devotion at every stage,” Maliwal said.
“With great sorrow today, I must say that the principles, values, and resolve for honest politics with which we began this journey have been abandoned by Arvind Kejriwal ji and, at his behest, the entire Aam Aadmi Party,” she added.
“At his residence, on his signal, I was brutally beaten and treated with utmost indecency. To protect his goon, he went to extreme lengths and rewarded him with high positions. Threats were made to ruin me, and every possible effort was made against me,” Maliwal recalled.
