Raghav Chadha Live Updates: ‘Honest politics has gone astray’: Swati Maliwal hits out at AAP; alleges assault and corruption

Raghav Chadha and several Rajya Sabha MPs announced their exit from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and move towards the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).Addressing a press conference, Chadha, along with Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal, claimed that more than two-thirds of AAP’s Rajya Sabha MPs were backing the decision to merge with the BJP. He stated that seven MPs had signed documents and submitted them to the Rajya Sabha Chairman, invoking provisions related to party mergers under the Constitution. The leaders later visited the BJP headquarters and met party president Nitin Nabin.The development followed weeks of internal tensions within AAP, including Chadha’s removal from a key leadership role in the Rajya Sabha. In his remarks, Chadha alleged that the party had deviated from its founding principles, while expressing support for the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.The move triggered sharp reactions from AAP leaders. Sanjay Singh accused the BJP of attempting to engineer defections through what he described as “Operation Lotus” and said he would seek disqualification of the MPs.Party leaders, including Arvind Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann, also criticised the development, alleging efforts to weaken the party, particularly in Punjab.Meanwhile, BJP leaders such as Amit Malviya and Shehzad Poonawalla described the exits as evidence of internal dissatisfaction within AAP and called for introspection by its leadership.Separately, Swati Maliwal announced her resignation from AAP, levelling serious allegations against the party leadership.