'MPs who switched to BJP targeted': Raghav Chadha accuses Punjab govt of political vendetta, to meet President Droupadi Murmu on May 5

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha will meet President Droupadi Murmu on May 5 after seeking time to raise concerns over the alleged misuse of state machinery in Punjab.He is expected to flag political vendetta against MPs who recently quit the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), news agency ANI reported citing sources.The meeting has been scheduled for 10.40 am and Chadha will be accompanied by three other MPs.This comes after a major political shift on April 24 when Chadha resigned from the AAP and joined the BJP after an open rift with the party leadership.Announcing his decision at a press conference, Chadha said the party had deviated from its founding principles."The Aam Aadmi Party, which I nurtured with my blood and sweat and to which I gave 15 years of my youth, has now completely deviated from its principles, values, and core morals. The party is no longer working for the country or in the national interest, but for personal gain," he said.Chadha also stated that six other Rajya Sabha MPs: Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikram Sahni, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal had quit the party and joined the BJP along with him.He said that more than two-thirds of AAP’s Rajya Sabha MPs had decided to merge with the BJP under constitutional provisions."We have decided that we, the two-thirds members belonging to the AAP in Rajya Sabha, exercise the provisions of the Constitution of India and merge ourselves with the BJP," he said.