Raghav Chadha (File photo)
NEW DELHI: In 2022, when Raghav Chadha entered the Rajya Sabha as a newly elected AAP MP from Punjab, he raised concerns about how India’s anti-defection law was functioning in practice and had its an infirmities.Introducing a Private Member Bill, he argued that the law had failed to curb political switching and instead made it easier for legislators to change sides, calling it a “nefarious floor crossing by legislators in total disregard of the democratic wishes of the electorate who returned them”.He said he wanted to see “the prevention of horse-trading” of elected lawmakers, and argued that strengthening the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution of India would remove a “blot on our democracy”.“The law that was made to end the politics of defection, currently facilitates defection,” he said in the Rajya Sabha then.A key part of his proposal was to raise the threshold required for a group of MPs to defect without disqualification. Under the existing framework, the number is two-thirds of a party’s strength in the House. Chadha proposed increasing it to three-fourths.However, the proposal was never taken up for a vote. In a major political development, Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Friday quit the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The move comes days after an open rift with the AAP leadership.Announcing his decision at a press conference, Chadha said the party had strayed 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 added that his differences with the party had been building over time. “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.”Chadha said that along with him six other fellow Rajya Sabha members has quit the party and joined BJP, including Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta ,Vikram Sahni, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal.The Rajya Sabha member said that more than two-thirds of the party’s Upper House members have decided to merge with the BJP under constitutional provisions.
