The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Sunday petitioned Rajya Sabha Chairman C. P. Radhakrishnan to disqualify seven of its former MPs who quit the party and joined the BJP. AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the party had urged the chairman to terminate the memberships of the MPs, arguing that their move amounted to defection under the anti-defection law.

Addressing a press conference, Singh said the seven leaders were elected to the Rajya Sabha on an AAP ticket but later chose to leave the party and merge with the BJP. He described the move as a violation of constitutional provisions and a betrayal of the public mandate.

The development comes after a major setback for AAP on Friday, when Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal resigned from the party and announced their merger with the BJP. The MPs said AAP had strayed from its founding principles and values.

Singh rejected the justification for the move, saying it did not meet the legal threshold required for a valid merger. He referred to constitutional provisions stating that at least two-thirds of a party’s legislators must agree to a merger for it to be recognised.

He added that AAP had consulted legal experts, including senior advocate Kapil Sibal, who indicated that the MPs could face disqualification under the law.

Six of the seven MPs who quit AAP were elected from Punjab, a factor Singh highlighted while alleging that the defections undermined the mandate given by voters in the state.

Sanjay Singh also dismissed claims that party MLAs in Punjab are in contact with Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, who recently joined the BJP, labelling such developments as "misinformation and rumours."

Singh accused the BJP and Raghav Chadha of deliberately spreading these rumours and noted that protests are being held across Punjab against the "betrayal" by Chadha and other Rajya Sabha MPs who left AAP to join the BJP.

"The public sentiment is against them for betraying AAP and Punjab," Singh claimed during a press conference.

"According to the Constitution, two-thirds of the total MPs of a party can merge with another party," Chadha said, pointing to the fact that AAP had a total of 10 MPs in the Rajya Sabha.

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