Left out of disgust, not fear: Raghav Chadha's fresh attack on AAP after exit

A day after exiting the Aam Aadmi Party and merging with the BJP, Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha has sharpened his attack on his former party, saying he walked out “not out of fear but out of disgust”.

In a strongly worded statement, Chadha pushed back against claims that leaders left under pressure. “Those who are saying we left out of fear we left not out of fear but after being disappointed with the Aam Aadmi Party. We left disgusted with the Aam Aadmi Party,” he said.

Chadha claimed that the party he once helped build no longer had space for “honest, hardworking” members.

“Every true patriot who nurtured the Aam Aadmi Party with their blood and sweat has either left or is leaving,” he said, adding that the party was now “walking on a wrong path that no one wants to be associated with”.

He also alleged that the leadership had deviated from its founding values and principles.

‘PARTY IN COMPROMISED HANDS’

In a sweeping claim, Chadha said multiple MPs had chosen to leave together because they believed the party had “fallen into corrupt and compromised hands”.

“Not one, not two but seven MPs are leaving the Aam Aadmi Party together,” he said.

He cited constitutional provisions that allow elected representatives to leave a party if they believe it has strayed from its path.

‘RIGHT MAN IN THE WRONG PARTY’

Reflecting on his time in AAP, Chadha said he had long felt out of place. “For the past few years, I could feel that I am the right man in the wrong party,” he said.

He added that he was not part of the leadership’s inner circle “because I was not part of their crime”.

“We had just two options. Either quit politics or do positive politics with our energy and experience,” he said.

EXIT AND MERGER

Chadha’s remarks come a day after he, along with six other AAP Rajya Sabha MPs - Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikram Sahney and Swati Maliwal - quit the party and merged with the BJP.

The group submitted signed documents to the Rajya Sabha Chairman, invoking provisions that allow a merger if at least two-thirds of a party’s MPs agree.

With seven out of 10 AAP MPs in the Rajya Sabha backing the move, the group crosses the required threshold, allowing them to retain their membership in the Upper House.

The development had triggered a sharp reaction from AAP, with leader Sanjay Singh moving to seek the disqualification of some of the MPs.

POLITICAL SPAR CONTINUES

Chadha’s remarks are likely to intensify the political confrontation between the AAP and its former leaders, with the party already challenging the exit of MPs in the Rajya Sabha.

His latest comments shift the focus from the political move itself to the reasons behind it, framing the exit as a protest rather than compulsion.

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