New Delhi: In a major political development, Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan on Monday officially accepted the merger of seven Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). With this move, AAP’s strength in the Upper House has reduced from 10 to just 3 members.
The seven MPs who have joined the BJP include Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Vikramjit Sahney, Swati Maliwal, and Rajinder Gupta. Following the merger, these MPs are now listed as BJP members on the official Rajya Sabha website.
According to sources, the MPs had written to the Rajya Sabha Chairman requesting formal recognition as BJP members after their merger, which was subsequently approved.
Earlier, the Aam Aadmi Party had strongly objected to the development. The party wrote to the Chairman seeking disqualification of the seven MPs under anti-defection rules. AAP leader Sanjay Singh also demanded action, claiming that the MPs should be removed from the Upper House.
The development comes after the seven MPs announced their exit from AAP, alleging that the party had deviated from its core principles, values, and ideology under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal. The merger has marked a significant political setback for AAP in the Rajya Sabha.
