- Arvind Kejriwal moved to a new residence on April 24.
- Seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs defected to the BJP.
- Ashok Mittal was central to AAP’s Punjab strategy.
In a striking coincidence, Arvind Kejriwal and Ashok Mittal parted ways on the same day, and in opposite directions.
On April 24, Kejriwal moved out of the Lutyens’ Delhi bungalow allotted to Mittal as a Rajya Sabha MP, which had been made available to the AAP chief since last year. In a post on X, Kejriwal said the Centre had allotted him a bungalow following court directions in view of his role as AAP’s national convenor.
“I have now shifted to that house with my family,” Kejriwal said.
Within hours, Mittal quit the AAP and joined the BJP.
Seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs Shift To BJP
Mittal was among seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs who merged with the BJP on Thursday, in the largest single-day exodus in the party’s history.
The others included Raghav Chadha, Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Rajinder Gupta and Vikramjit Sahney.
Kejriwal had reportedly called the MPs to his residence on Friday evening in a last-ditch effort to prevent the walkout, but the meeting did not take place.
Kejriwal Reacts
Kejriwal’s first public response was sharp.
“BJP has jolted Punjabis,” he said, portraying the defections as an external conspiracy rather than an internal breakdown, in reference to Punjab, the only state where AAP is in power and which goes to polls early next year.
Mittal’s Role In AAP’s Punjab Expansion
Mittal was central to AAP’s Punjab strategy.
The founder of Lovely Professional University and a prominent Punjab businessman, Mittal was inducted into the party by Kejriwal and given a Rajya Sabha seat in 2022.
ALSO READ | AAP Exodus: MP Who Hosted Kejriwal For A Year Quits Party Hours After He Moves Out
His family is known for starting the well-known Lovely Sweets business in Jalandhar.
When Mittal Hosted Kejriwal
After Kejriwal resigned as Delhi Chief Minister in September 2024 following his release on bail in the excise policy case, he vacated the official CM residence at 6 Flagstaff Road.
Mittal then offered him accommodation at his official MP bungalow at 5 Ferozeshah Road.
In a video message in October 2024, Mittal said: “When [Kejriwal] resigned as the chief minister, I came to know that he had no place to stay. I invited him to be my guest at my Delhi residence, and it brings me great joy that he has accepted my request.”
Kejriwal lived there with his family for over a year.
ED Raids Marked A Turning Point
In April 2026, days after AAP appointed Mittal deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha in place of Raghav Chadha, the Enforcement Directorate conducted raids at multiple locations linked to Mittal, including his residence and the LPU campus in Punjab.
The searches were related to alleged financial irregularities involving business entities associated with the Lovely Group.
Kejriwal and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann termed the raids politically motivated, while the BJP defended them as anti-corruption action.
How The Defection Took Shape
The sequence of events began in early April when AAP removed Chadha as deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha and handed the post to Mittal.
Chadha, constrained by anti-defection law requiring at least two-thirds of legislators to support a merger to avoid disqualification, reportedly reached out to other dissatisfied MPs.
By the time the group moved, enough members had joined to meet the constitutional threshold.
AAP’s Punjab Problem Deepens
AAP has now lost seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs.
Six of those who left were elected from Punjab, where AAP had won all seven Rajya Sabha seats after its landslide victory in the 2022 Assembly polls.
Their nominations had triggered controversy in Punjab, with criticism over “outsiders” such as Chadha and Sandeep Pathak, as well as wealthy industrialists and apolitical figures being sent to the Upper House.
Bigger Challenge Than Previous Rebellions
The latest rupture comes at a more difficult time for AAP than earlier internal exits.
The party had survived departures by co-founders Prashant Bhushan and Yogendra Yadav in 2015, followed by political fallouts with Kumar Vishwas and Kapil Mishra, while continuing to win elections.
It won 67 Delhi Assembly seats in 2015, 63 in 2020, and 92 of 117 in Punjab in 2022.
But this exodus follows AAP’s defeat in the 2025 Delhi Assembly polls, where it won just 22 seats against BJP’s 48.
With Punjab heading to elections in around 10 months, the defections have intensified pressure on the party.
Mann Calls Rebels ‘Traitors’
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann labelled the defectors “traitors”.
Asked whether the party had erred in selecting them for Rajya Sabha seats, Mann said they had been chosen because they were eminent in their fields.
“If there’s a machine that can read minds, let me know, and if I can order it from Amazon!” he quipped.
Rebels Cite Ideological Drift
Chadha, flanked by Pathak and Mittal, said the party had moved away from its founding principles and that they were impressed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s work.
Mittal later formally joined the BJP alongside the others.
