New Delhi: In a major blow to the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party, Rajya Sabha Chairman C. P. Radhakrishnan on Monday formally accepted the merger of seven AAP Members of Parliament with the Bharatiya Janata Party. This decision follows a high-stakes legal and political tug-of-war over the interpretation of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution. With this development, the AAP’s strength in the Upper House has plummeted from ten to just three, while the BJP’s tally has surged from 106 to 113. The ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) now stands at 148 members, bringing the BJP significantly closer to the individual majority mark of 123.
The Chairman’s ruling was based on a merger letter signed by seven prominent MPs: Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, Vikramjit Sahney, Ashok Mittal, and Rajender Gupta. Together, these members constitute more than two-thirds of the AAP’s legislature party in the Rajya Sabha, meeting the threshold required under the anti-defection law to avoid disqualification. Sources indicate that the Chairman sought extensive legal counsel before concluding that the letter complied with constitutional provisions. This move effectively overrides the AAP’s petition filed on Sunday, which sought the disqualification of the defectors on the grounds that a legislative merger must be preceded by a merger of the original political parties.
The AAP has vehemently contested the decision, citing legal opinions from experts such as Kapil Sibal and P. D. T. Achary, who argue that the Tenth Schedule does not protect a breakaway group if the mother party remains intact. However, recent precedents in Maharashtra—where factions of the Shiv Sena and the NCP successfully broke away from their parent organizations by securing two-thirds support—appear to have influenced the current legislative landscape. As the Rajya Sabha website updated its party-wise tally on Monday, the shift marked one of the most significant redistributions of power in the house in recent years, further consolidating the NDA’s legislative dominance.
