After seven of AAP’s 10 Rajya Sabha MPs walked out of the party and merged with the BJP on Friday, videos of Union minister and BJP leader Ravneet Singh Bittu criticising Raghav Chadha have gone viral on Punjabi social media, as Punjab heads towards Assembly elections in around 10 months.
Bittu Had Said BJP Did Not Need Chadha
Bittu, among the BJP’s newer recruits as the party seeks to expand independently in Punjab, had said last week that there was “no need” for Chadha to join the BJP because he was “already doing the work he’s doing”, referring to Chadha’s criticism of the Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP.
Punjab At The Centre Of Political Churn
Punjab remains central to the developments, with six of the seven defecting AAP MPs elected from the state.
Besides Chadha, those who switched include Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Vikramjit Sahney, Rajinder Gupta and Harbhajan Singh. Swati Maliwal entered the Rajya Sabha from Delhi.
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Announcing his switch on Friday, Chadha said, “The reason is that I didn’t want to be apart of their sins.”
Bittu Hints At More Revelations
Speaking last week about the 2027 Punjab elections, Bittu said: “Now, even the people who held the government in their fist and controlled it are speaking.”
Referring to Chadha, he added: “No matter what anyone says, Raghav Chadha was the all-in-all of the Aam Aadmi Party. Today he stands on the other side. So, how many internal secrets will he reveal in the coming days?”
He made similar remarks in multiple media interactions.
Chadha’s Role In Punjab Politics
Chadha served as co-in-charge of AAP’s Punjab affairs and was widely credited with helping steer the party to its 2022 landslide in Punjab, where it won 92 of 117 Assembly seats.
However, his Rajya Sabha nomination from Punjab, along with that of Sandeep Pathak, had sparked criticism over “outsiders” being chosen for seats from the state.
Bittu’s Sharp Personal Attacks
Bittu, who joined the BJP after leaving the Congress and was later sent to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan, had also launched personal attacks on Chadha.
Asked whether Chadha could join the BJP, Bittu said in an April 12 interview: “No, the need for him to join the BJP would only arise if he wasn’t already doing the work he’s doing. He’s doing it himself, so there’s no need to make him join. They are dancing themselves.”
He also blamed Chadha for his brief jailing during a 2024 protest and alleged that Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was pressured by Chadha and Kejriwal.
“I have endured a lot because of Chadha… Being a man, he does catwalk!” Bittu said.
In another interaction, he added: “This Punjab is a land of lions, with men who have proud, long beards. This chikna (cleanshaven) fellow, if you slap him once, the marks won’t fade for two months.”
Neither Chadha nor the BJP had responded publicly to the remarks as of April 25 evening.
Chadha Reaffirms Punjab Commitment
Despite criticism over being an outsider, Chadha has repeatedly asserted his commitment to Punjab.
Sharing compilations of his parliamentary speeches on Punjab-related issues, he said: “Punjab is not a talking point for me. It is my commitment. It is my soul.”
It remains unclear whether he will contest the 2027 Assembly polls or play a formal electoral role in the state.
Opposition Questions Chadha’s Relevance
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said: “The AAP has no ideology. This was natural. These MPs have no relevance in Punjab. AAP should remain aware, their 50 MLAs might join the BJP next!”
AAP Hits Back
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann dismissed the departing MPs as politically insignificant.
“These six-seven MPs were not the party. They were not mass leaders. None of them is capable of becoming even a village sarpanch,” he said.
He added that the MPs had originally been chosen because they were eminent in their fields.
“But there is no machine to read minds,” Mann said.
Calling the defectors “gaddar” or traitors of Punjab, Mann also described the BJP as a party of “kaddhe, waddhe te chhadde” — a Punjabi phrase meaning the expelled, divided, and left-behind.
BJP’s Punjab Ambitions Grow
The BJP now has six MPs from Punjab despite having only two MLAs in the 117-member Assembly.
The party has never formed a government in Punjab on its own and had historically played junior partner to the Shiromani Akali Dal.
However, Union Home Minister Amit Shah declared in March that the BJP would contest the 2027 Punjab elections independently, formally ending prospects of reviving its alliance with the Akali Dal.
“You have given a chance to all political parties. Now give us one chance,” Shah said at a rally in Moga.
The BJP secured around 19% of Punjab’s vote in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections while contesting alone but failed to win a seat.
Multi-Cornered Contest Ahead
Punjab’s 2027 Assembly election is shaping up as a multi-cornered contest involving AAP, Congress, the Shiromani Akali Dal and the BJP.
