Hours after Raghav Chadha dropped a bombshell that he and six other Aam Aadmi Party's Rajya Sabha lawmakers were joining the Bharatiya Janata Party, AAP MP Swati Maliwal on Friday confirmed that she was indeed quitting the party, attributing her decision to "corruption, harassment, assault on women and promotion of goons".

In a post on X, Maliwal recalled her 2024 allegation that Arvind Kejriwal's aide had assaulted and misbehaved with her at his house.

"At his residence, on his signal, I was brutally beaten and treated with utmost indecency. To protect his goon, he went to extreme lengths and rewarded him with high positions. Threats were made to ruin me, and every possible effort was made against me," she alleged.

She said the AAP has deviated from its founding principles and values at the behest of Kejriwal.

"In 2006, I left my job to choose the path of national service. Through the RTI movement, the Anna movement, the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party, and 8 years of dedicated work in the Delhi Women's Commission, I contributed with complete honesty and devotion at every stage," Swati Maliwal said.

"With great sorrow today, I must say that the principles, values, and resolve for honest politics with which we began this journey have been abandoned by Arvind Kejriwal ji and, at his behest, the entire Aam Aadmi Party," she added.

"At his residence, on his signal, I was brutally beaten and treated with utmost indecency. To protect his goon, he went to extreme lengths and rewarded him with high positions. Threats were made to ruin me, and every possible effort was made against me," Maliwal said.

"My basic fight was with Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia. I joined the Anna Hazare movement, from there I became the co-founder of Aam Aadmi Party. The current situation is yet another example of Kejriwal's dictatorial manner, the way he treats his people. The party that we built with out sweat and tears is just exploding," BJP Leader Shazia Ilmi said.

Shazia Ilmi left AAP in 2014 and later joined BJP in 2015.

On Raghav Chadha joining BJP alongside 6 other MPs, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said that the seven MPs who defected do not represent the spirit or the people of Punjab. He warned that their political future would likely mirror that of other leaders who joined the BJP only to find themselves marginalised.

After the big-ticket exits, the three Rajya Sabha MPs who remain in AAP are Sant Balbir Singh Seechewal, Sanjay Singh, and Narain Dass Gupta.

AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal had a one-line response to the bombshell Raghav Chadha dropped Friday afternoon. "The BJP has once again given Punjabis a shove," he said on X.

Minutes earlier Chadha and two colleagues - Ashok Mittal and Sandeep Pathak - announced they would lead seven of the Aam Aadmi Party's 10 Rajya Sabha MPs to merge with the BJP.

Minutes after he triggered a political earthquake by announcing that he and six other AAP Rajya Sabha MPs were quitting the Arvind Kejriwal-led party and merging with the BJP, Raghav Chadha revealed what he claimed was the "real reason" behind the decision. 

Addressing a press conference on Friday with two other MPs, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal, Chadha, who was demoted from the post of AAP's Deputy Leader in the Rajya Sabha weeks ago, pulled no punches while talking about the party he was with since its inception in 2012. 

"BJP ne phir se Punjabiyon ke saath kiya dhakka (sic). (The BJP has once again given Punjabis a shove)," Arvind Kejriwal wrote on social media platform X.

Chadha had been with the AAP since its inception in 2012, working as a trusted lieutenant to Kejriwal, who stormed into power in Delhi in 2015 riding the wave that followed the anti-corruption movement.

"I am telling you the real reason as to why I distanced myself from party activities. I did not want to be a part of their crimes. I was not eligible for their friendship because I was not a part of their crime. We had just two options - either quit politics and give up our public work in the last 15-16 years or we do positive politics with our energy and experience. So, we have decided that we, the 2/3rd members belonging to the AAP in Rajya Sabha, exercise the provisions of the Constitution of India and merge ourselves with the BJP," AAP MP Raghav Chadha said.

"The AAP that I gave 15 years of my life. Now the party has stepped away from the honest politics. I am the right man in the wrong party. I am moving away from the party and going close to people. Today, the AAP is corrupt and compromised," he added.

After announcing his decision to quit the Aam Aadmi Party, Raghav Chadha left for BJP headquarters where he will meet party chief Nitin Nabin.

“I don’t want to say anything. Some people compromise. Those who fear join the BJP. He must have gone either out of fear or greed,” RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav on Raghav Chadha leaving AAP to join BJP.

"Consider this: the party made Raghav Chadha an MLA and an MP. What didn't the party give him? The people of Punjab gave him so much love and sent him to the Rajya Sabha, yet he has now landed in the lap of the BJP. Through the love and blessings of the people, Sandeep Pathak was given the opportunity to reach the Rajya Sabha and was entrusted with major responsibilities by the party," said AAP.

"The Bharatiya Janata Party, along with Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, has initiated 'Operation Lotus' on a massive scale. This is a game of petty politics and a conspiracy to obstruct the good work being done by Bhagwant Mann’s government in Punjab," AAP said.

Raghav Chadha, a senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP, announced today that he is quitting the party and joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), along with a significant number of other AAP members in the Upper House. 

This development marks a major setback for AAP and its leader, Arvind Kejriwal.

Chadha claimed that about two-thirds of AAP's Rajya Sabha MPs are leaving the party to join the BJP.

Besides Chadha, the MPs named as joining the BJP include Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahney.

AAP MP Raghav Chadha said, "There are 10 AAP MPs in the Rajya Sabha, more than 2/3rd of them are with us in this. They have signed and this morning we submitted the signed letter and documents to the Rajya Sabha Chairman...3 of them are here before you. Besides us, there are Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikram Sahney and Swati Maliwal."

“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. Many of you have been telling me this for the past few years, and I too have personally felt that I am the right man in the wrong party. I repeat, ‘I am the right man in the wrong party.’ Therefore, today I announce that I am distancing myself from the Aam Aadmi Party and going to the people,” Raghav Chadha said.

Addressing a press conference with Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal, AAP MP Raghav Chadha says, "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."