MPs Gone, MLAs Next? What Lies Ahead For AAP In Punjab After Raghav Chadha, 6 Others' Exit

Last Updated:April 27, 2026, 13:28 IST

Amid these rumblings, BJP President Nitin Nabin announced that the party has decided to go solo in Punjab next year, with many taking it as a sign of things to come.

Could the Aam Aadmi Party be staring at a fresh crisis in Punjab? After the mass exodus of seven Rajya Sabha MPs from AAP into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), reports now indicate that the party could be in for a similar exodus of MLAs in Punjab.

Raghav Chadha and six other AAP Rajya Sabha MPs – Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, and Swati Maliwal quit the party on Friday and joined the BJP.

Balbir Singh Seechewal is now the only AAP MP from Punjab in Rajya Sabha who remains in the party. Seechewal said Vikramjit Singh Sahney had approached him to join a proposed ‘Azaad group’ days before the mass defection to the BJP, but he refused, citing no desire to join.

What Is Happening In Punjab?

The move by the seven Rajya Sabha MPs, primarily from Punjab, comes just a year before the state goes to polls. The Punjab Assembly Elections are scheduled for 2027. Reports quoting sources have been claiming that as many as 63 Punjab MLAs are backing Raghav Chadha.

The Punjab Assembly comprises 117 seats. If reports are true and all these 63 MLAs in question decide to follow Raghav Chadha, the AAP could stand to lose majority and the Bhagwant Mann-led government could fall.

Sources have even indicated that Chadha could emerge as a possible chief ministerial face for the BJP, as the party has been grappling with the absence of a local face in Punjab for years.

Kuldip Singh, a political analyst was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express that the seven MPs exit was an existential threat to the party, and was likely to have serious repercussions not only in Punjab but also at the national level. “In the coming months, there is a likelihood of a similar split among the state MLAs, as a major faction of legislators might shift sides. The prime reason is that party leaders do not find any future in the party, who opts to swim in a sinking ship," he said.

Amid these rumblings, BJP President Nitin Nabin announced that the party has decided to go solo in Punjab next year, sending a signal of things to come.

What Raghav Chadha Said About Quitting AAP

Raghav Chadha has justified his exit by portraying AAP as having fundamentally deteriorated internally, saying the party was now in “corrupt hands" and that he could no longer function within what he described as a “toxic work culture."

He suggested that the organisation had drifted far from its founding ideals and that decision-making had become opaque and unhealthy, creating an environment where dissent or independent thinking was not tolerated. Chadha framed his departure as a reluctant but necessary step, arguing that the internal atmosphere had become so dysfunctional that continuing within the party would have meant compromising his own principles and ability to work effectively.

AAP Dismisses Reports Of Dissent In Punjab

AAP has rejected reports of dissent within Punjab MLAs. AAP leader Sanjay Singh called reports of possible defection by the party’s Punjab MLAs “misinformation and rumours" aimed at destabilising the party.

Singh accused the BJP and Raghav Chadha of deliberately spreading these rumours and noted that protests are being held across Punjab against the “betrayal" by Chadha and other Rajya Sabha MPs who left AAP to join the BJP. “The public sentiment is against them for betraying AAP and Punjab," Singh said.

The next few months could be high voltage months in Punjab as far as politics is concerned. If what happened in Rajya Sabha mirrors in the state, Punjab could witness a huge shift in its political landscape.

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