AAP's Raghav Chadha and Six Colleagues Defect to BJP, Sparking Unity Concerns in Delhi

With AAP’s former Rajya Sabha deputy leader Raghav Chadha, along with six of his colleagues in the Upper House crossing over to the BJP on Friday, the biggest challenge for the party in Delhi is keeping its flock together. Insiders apprehended that the fallout of the episode in the Upper House could play out among “five to seven” of its legislators in the city. This becomes a particular concern for the AAP given its current strength in the Delhi Assembly – from a high of 67 in 2015, it currently has 22 MLAs – is six less than when it established a presence in the Capital in 2013. In the 2015 and 2020 polls, the party won 67 and 62 of the 70 seats, respectively. A loss of seven more MLAs could cut the party down to just 15 MLAs. Of the party’s 22 MLAs in the Delhi Assembly, 15 must switch sides from the principal Opposition party in the House to avoid the anti-defection law. “The BJP’s strategy appears to be clear: superimposing former AAP leaders on to Punjab in the run up to the polls (in 2027) to level allegations against the Bhagwant Mann government,” a source said. “Chadha might be utilised as a crowd-puller; he is the only one who can be useful to the BJP in that respect as the others who have defected are not mass leaders,” the source added. Chadha’s announcement on Friday came three weeks after he was removed as the deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha . After he made the announcement before mediapersons, he, Mittal and Pathak met BJP president Nitin Nabin at the party’s headquarters on DDU Marg. Following the departure of these seven faces from AAP, the party is left with only three MPs: Sanjay Singh and N D Gupta from Delhi and Balbir Singh Seechewal from Punjab. On several occasions, AAP leaders had mentioned ‘Operation Lotus’ – a term for the BJP “breaking away” leaders from other parties – to describe party leaders jumping ship to the BJP. In March 2023, Chadha himself had claimed that ‘Operation Lotus 2.0’ was being planned by the BJP in Delhi. He had accused the party of having launched a witch hunt against AAP leaders, as part of which MLAs were being threatened with ED/CBI cases. Chadha had then alleged that the BJP wanted to topple the AAP government in Delhi and that AAP MLAs were being “sent offers by the BJP high command”. In August 2022, then Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had called a meeting after four AAP MLAs claimed that they were contacted by the BJP and offered Rs 20 crore each to join the party. They were also allegedly offered Rs 25 crore to bring another MLA along with them. In February 2025, AAP’s Sanjay Singh had claimed that BJP had offered seven AAP candidates Rs 15 crore as part of the ‘Operation Lotus’ to bribe them to jump ship.