AAP Moves Rajya Sabha for Disqualification of 7 Defected MPs

NEW DELHI — The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has officially escalated its legal battle against internal rebellion, submitting a formal petition to Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan on Sunday, April 26, 2026. The petition seeks the immediate disqualification of seven Members of Parliament (MPs) who recently quit the party to merge with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Core of the Dispute

The petition targets a group led by Raghav Chadha, which includes high-profile members: Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikram Sahni, and Swati Maliwal. The AAP leadership contends that their move constitutes a clear violation of the Anti-Defection Law (Tenth Schedule of the Constitution).

While the defecting group argues that they hold the necessary two-thirds strength (7 out of 10 AAP Rajya Sabha members) to validate a merger under the law, the AAP’s petition raises a fundamental constitutional question. The party argues that for a merger to be legally recognized, the “original political party” must merge at the organizational level—a decision the AAP national leadership has not taken.

Implications for the Upper House

Before this defection, the AAP held 10 seats in the Rajya Sabha. If the disqualification is upheld, it would drastically reduce the party’s presence in the Upper House. Conversely, if the merger is accepted by the Chairman, the BJP’s strength in the House will see a significant boost, further shifting the legislative balance of power.

The AAP has urged Chairman Radhakrishnan to terminate the memberships promptly, emphasizing that these representatives were elected on an AAP mandate and cannot unilaterally “carry” that mandate to a rival party without resigning.