How AAP's Late Punjab Ticket Offer To 'Unhappy' MPs Fell Apart Before Mass Exit

Last Updated:April 25, 2026, 11:17 IST

A party leader also noted that a key meeting was scheduled for Friday evening to quell the discontent but was delayed as Kejriwal was busy with house shifting

The exit of seven Rajya Sabha MPs, including at least five of whom had not publicly shown any signs of dissent, led by Raghav Chadha, has shocked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). News18 has learnt that AAP had been working on a late-stage plan to ease tensions by offering assembly tickets in Punjab to six “unhappy" MPs in the upcoming elections. However, the move was reportedly poorly timed and not clearly communicated within the organisation.

While there was no official announcement, sources said party chief Arvind Kejriwal had discussed possible adjustments for “unhappy" MPs. A party leader also noted that a key meeting was scheduled for Friday evening but was delayed as Kejriwal was busy with house shifting.

“Kejriwal-ji had planned a meeting with these MPs on Friday. It was more about assessing the situation. If the MPs were unhappy, the party was to offer them some other positions. There was also the possibility of offering assembly tickets in Punjab. The meeting could not take place earlier as Kejriwal was busy with court cases and house shifting. However, the exit was announced before the meeting could take place," a leader said on the condition of anonymity.

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The leader, however, did not confirm if the invitations to the six MPs were sent and if they had accepted or rejected the invite.

One of the MPs, Vikram Sahney, had a meeting with Kejriwal scheduled on Friday evening, the leader added. Party leaders, however, acknowledged that the top brass was not fully aware that several MPs had already taken the final decision to quit.

To add insult to injury, Kejriwal was staying at the residence of Ashok Mittal, one of the MPs who left the party. It was only on Friday morning—after the seven AAP MPs had signed the merger letter and submitted it to the Rajya Sabha around 11am—that the former chief minister announced he was vacating the house.

Party leaders also confirmed that Mittal had met Kejriwal just hours before he announced his exit.

Termed ‘Operation Lotus’ by the Aam Aadmi Party, the exit of seven Rajya Sabha members on Friday has left AAP with just three members in the House—two from Delhi and one from Punjab.

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The exit announcement was made by Raghav Chadha in the presence of Sandeep Pathak and Mittal. Chadha said that Sahney, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, and Swati Maliwal had been named as part of the move. Pathak has also been in consistent touch with Kejriwal and had met him this week more than once. Similarly, Sahney also met Kejriwal during the week.

Maliwal, meanwhile, had been away from party politics for more than one-and-a-half years. Interestingly, except Chadha and Maliwal, none of the leaders had a vocal conflict history with the leadership.

“We were aware that they both (Chadha and Maliwal) were planning something. The meeting was planned by Kejriwal to strengthen the party," the leader said.

Despite what the sources say, the exit of at least five other MPs has revealed the gaps in AAP’s internal coordination and the fact that the corrective measures were not taken at the right time.

Asked whether earlier intervention could have averted the crisis, the leader said the only power AAP has against BJP is the loyalty of its leaders. “We can never match what the BJP would have offered them. We cannot offer protection from central agencies or a central ministry, but we can offer our leaders only our support and strength to fight the wrong," they added.

Exit Planning

News18 was also told that the exit planning started and developed only in the last couple of days, particularly after Chadha’s fallout with the party when he was removed as Deputy Leader from the Rajya Sabha.

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But the meeting of many of these MPs with Kejriwal also indicated that communication channels remained active even as the exit plan unfolded.

Sources also said Chadha played a key role in shaping the move, approaching the MPs who first wrote separate letters seeking the merger. Chadha’s office has been contacted multiple times since Friday but did not react on the issue.

Speaking about the pattern in exit, a senior AAP leader said one thing was clear: all those who exited were either saving themselves from central agencies or had some personal agenda. “Otherwise they should have talked about this with the party first."

The coming days are going to be critical for the AAP as it faces the challenge of saving the government in Punjab—its sole ruling state now.

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