New Delhi, 24 April (H.S.):

Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, and Ashok Mittal—Rajya Sabha members from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)—formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday. Earlier, the trio had announced their exit from AAP and decision to join BJP at a press conference in the Constitution Club, before heading to BJP headquarters to meet party president Nitin Nabin.

Warm Reception at BJP HQ

Nabin greeted them with bouquets, followed by over an hour of discussions. Chadha named additional AAP Rajya Sabha defectors—Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikram Sahni, and Swati Maliwal—stating they represent more than two-thirds of AAP's Upper House strength ready to merge with BJP.

Chadha's Rationale

We have decided that we—two-thirds of AAP members in Rajya Sabha—will exercise constitutional provisions to merge with the BJP, Chadha declared. He reflected that AAP workers had nurtured the party with blood and sweat, and he personally invested 15 years of his youth, but lamented that AAP has completely deviated from its principles and moral values.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar