‘AAP’s face was dirty, but they kept cleaning the mirror’: BJP takes brutal swipe at AAP, Arvind Kejriwal as Raghav Chadha et al join BJP

In a scathing political broadside following the defection of Raghav Chadha and other AAP Rajya Sabha MPs to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the party on Friday accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) of ignoring its internal failures and lashed out at its leadership.

Addressing the media, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla took a swipe at the party, saying, “AAP kept making the same mistake — the dust was on its face, but it kept cleaning the mirror,” suggesting that the party leadership failed to acknowledge its own shortcomings.

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#WATCH | Delhi: On 2/3 of the AAP Rajya Sabha MPs merging with and joining BJP, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla says, “Lifelong AAP made the same mistake, “dhool chehre pe thi, AAP aayenaa saaf karti rahi.” It is time for self-introspection. But instead of that, they… pic.twitter.com/2loE89557M

— ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2026

Poonawalla questioned AAP’s claims that leaders leaving the party amounted to a betrayal of Punjab, arguing instead that the “real betrayal” lay in unfulfilled promises such as a “nasha mukt” state, alleged collusion with mafia elements, and failure to bring in a Jan Lokpal while corruption rose.

He further alleged that the party had now turned into “Arvind Akele ki Party,” pointing to a string of past exits by senior leaders including Yogendra Yadav, Shanti Bhushan, Prashant Bhushan, Ashutosh, Alka Lamba and Rajendra Pal Gautam, many of whom later joined different political parties.

Recalling AAP’s origins as an anti-corruption movement, Poonawalla said the party was founded to challenge the Congress and fight corruption, but lost its way over time. “Those who once walked with Anna are now walking with Lalu,” he said, accusing Arvind Kejriwal of deflecting blame instead of addressing the reasons behind the exodus.