In a dramatic political deja vu reflecting shifting loyalties in Parliament, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) now finds itself confronting the kind of crisis that once weakened the Telugu Desam Party in 2019. With a large section of its Rajya Sabha MPs breaking away in a coordinated move, the parallels are striking and politically significant. What unfolded seven years ago, when the TDP’s presence in the Upper House was sharply reduced almost overnight, now appears to be echoing within AAP.

In a significant blow to AAP, seven of its Rajya Sabha MPs have announced their decision to merge with the BJP, citing constitutional provisions that allow such a move if two-thirds of a party’s legislators agree. The coordinated nature of the exit signals deep internal discord within the party, coming amid tensions between Raghav Chadha and the leadership.

The development has also sparked a sharp political reaction, with AAP leaders accusing the BJP of engineering defections through what they describe as “Operation Lotus,” a charge the BJP has consistently denied.

The unfolding situation closely mirrors the events of June 2019, when the Telugu Desam Party suffered a major setback in the Rajya Sabha. At the time, four out of its six MPs defected to the BJP, effectively splitting the party’s parliamentary presence in the Upper House.

Those MPs invoked provisions under the anti-defection law, arguing that their move constituted a legitimate merger since they represented two-thirds of the party’s strength in the Rajya Sabha.

In the 2019 Rajya Sabha defection from the Telugu Desam Party, four of its six MPs switched sides to the BJP.They were:

These four constituted two-thirds of TDP’s Rajya Sabha strength at the time, allowing them to merge with the BJP under anti-defection provisions.

The defection significantly weakened the TDP, which was already dealing with electoral setbacks, and strengthened the BJP’s numbers in the Upper House.

Both the 2019 TDP episode and the current AAP crisis point to a recurring pattern in Indian politics, where regional or smaller parties face internal fractures in Parliament that lead to large-scale defections and a shift in political equations.

In both cases, the two-thirds rule under the Tenth Schedule played a crucial role, allowing defecting MPs to avoid disqualification by presenting their move as a merger rather than individual defections.

Source: India Latest News, Breaking News Today, Top News Headlines | Times Now