New Delhi:
The BJP has reasons to celebrate. Its strength in Rajya Sabha officially goes up by seven today after it said Chairman CP Radhakrishnan has accepted Raghav Chadha and six other AAP MPs’ request with the BJP. This means that the MPs have now formally joined the BJP, days after their exit dealt a massive jolt to the Arvind Kejriwal-led party.
Now, Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, Rajinder Gupta, and Vikramjit Singh Sahney are Members of the BJP Parliamentary Party, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju said in an online post, adding a line on why it matters to his party.
Honb’le Chairman Rajya Sabha Shri C.P. Radhakrishnan Ji has accepted the merger of 7 AAP MPs with BJP. Now, Raghav Chadha ji, Sandeep Pathak ji, Ashok Mittal ji, Harbhajan Singh ji, Swati Maliwal ji, Rajinder Gupta ji & Vikramjit Singh Sahney ji are Members of BJP Parliamentary…
— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) April 27, 2026
“For a long time, I have observed that these seven Honb’le MPs have not resorted to abusive languages and never created any indiscipline and un-parliamentary conducts,” he said.
Read: The Bill That Could Have Stopped Raghav Chadha From Splitting The AAP
The AAP had earlier said it would seek the disqualification of the MPs, claiming that Chadha did not have the support of the AAP’s two-thirds strength he had claimed, and called his move a “betrayal”.
Rijiju further topped his welcome post for its latest and most high-profile recruits with a “tukde tukde” jibe at the opposition.
“Welcome to nation building NDA under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister @narendramodi ji and good bye to Tukde-Tukde INDI Alliance,” the senior leader said, using a phrase used time and again by top BJP leaders to describe the opposition alliance.
Rijiju continued his attacks on the opposition on his X handle. Turning to the Congress and the Trinamool from the AAP, he alleged the two parties bear no differences in Bengal.
Read: Importance Of 2/3rds: Raghav Chadha And The Anti-Defection Law That Saved Him
Sharing two videos of Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi criticising Trinamool and AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal, Rijiju questioned their unity in Parliament while opposing the recent Women’s Quota Bill. “They are “Best of Friends” inside Parliament. They were all united in defeating women’s rights. INDI Alliance was a- fraud from the very beginning,” he said.
The Congress, Trinamool, and AAP are not in any alliance at state level in the ongoing Bengal elections but decide on parliamentary action on subject basis. At national level, the leadership of what had emerged as a massive opposition bloc in 2024 remains fractured.