In a dramatic political shift unfolding in Delhi, Rajya Sabha MPs Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in the presence of BJP national president Nitin Nabin at the party headquarters on Friday.
#WATCH | Delhi: Rajya Sabha MPs Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal join BJP in the presence of BJP National President Nitin Nabin at the party headquarters pic.twitter.com/wcAL8BOr0Z
— ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2026
The development comes hours after the trio gave a major blow to the AAP’s parliamentary strength by announcing a split within the party. They claimed that more than two-thirds of AAP’s members in the Rajya Sabha have decided to merge with the BJP under constitutional provisions.
Addressing a press conference, Chadha said, “We have decided that we, the two-thirds members belonging to the AAP in Rajya Sabha, exercise the provisions of the Constitution of India and merge ourselves with the BJP.”
Welcomed Raghav Chadha Ji, Sandeep Pathak Ji, and Ashok Mittal Ji to the BJP family at the Party HQ today.
Also, best wishes to Harbhajan Singh Ji, Swati Maliwal Ji, Vikram Sahney Ji, and Rajinder Gupta Ji to work under the dynamic leadership of PM Shri @narendramodi Ji towards… pic.twitter.com/fLhcnHnO0K
— Nitin Nabin (@NitinNabin) April 24, 2026
Raghav Chadha stated that the AAP currently has 10 MPs in the Rajya Sabha, and seven of them have supported the move. According to Chadha, the MPs have signed the merger documents, which were submitted earlier in the day to the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.
Chadha further named the other MPs backing the decision as Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Swati Maliwal.
Explaining the reasons behind the split, Chadha alleged that the AAP had “moved away from its core ideology” and was now functioning for personal gains, prompting the group to take the step.
The BJP has not yet issued an official statement on the development, while confirmation from the Rajya Sabha Secretariat regarding the merger is awaited.