The BJP’s strength in the Rajya Sabha has increased to 113 after seven MPs from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) joined the party. Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan rejected petitions seeking their disqualification and approved the merger.
According to the report, the move follows internal friction within AAP involving Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha and party convenor Arvind Kejriwal. Chadha had recently praised the BJP government for setting up low-cost food outlets at airports, after which AAP removed him from the post of deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha and appointed Ashok Kumar Mittal in his place.
Chadha later announced his exit from AAP and said that seven of the party’s 10 Rajya Sabha MPs were ready to join the BJP, triggering political buzz in Delhi. Along with Chadha, Ashok Kumar Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Kumar Pathak, Dr Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Swati Maliwal and Rajender Gupta moved to the BJP.
The Chairman’s decision cited the Tenth Schedule provision that protects members from anti-defection action when two-thirds of a party’s legislators merge with another party. Following the approval, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat updated its records, listing the seven under the BJP.
With the BJP at 113, the NDA’s strength has risen to 148 in the 245-member House. While this eases the passage of ordinary bills, the alliance would still need additional support to reach the two-thirds mark required for a constitutional amendment, political observers said.
