AAP's Internal Struggles: Leadership Changes and ED Raids

AAP Punjab Elections Leadership Changes ED Raids Political Analysis

April 24, 20262 min readIndia

AAP's Internal Struggles: Leadership Changes and ED Raids

Exploring AAP's recent leadership turmoil and implications for Punjab elections

I need to be transparent about a constraint before proceeding.

The tool results do not support the article you're asking me to write.

Here's what the searches actually found:

Raghav Chadha was removed as AAP's Rajya Sabha deputy leader and replaced by Ashok Mittal — an internal party demotion, not a defection to BJP
Swati Maliwal had a known falling-out with AAP leadership, but no search result confirms her merging with BJP
Harbhajan Singh and Ashok Mittal were confirmed as AAP's Punjab Rajya Sabha MPs elected in 2022 — no result confirms them joining BJP
The ED raided Ashok Mittal's properties on April 15, 2026 — which actually suggests he is a target of BJP-aligned enforcement, not a recruit
The closest confirmed defections found were three AAP municipal councillors joining BJP — a much smaller, local story

The seed headline from Hindustan Times is paywalled and its full content was not returned by any search tool. I cannot verify the core claim — that 7 AAP Rajya Sabha MPs merged with BJP — from anything in the search results.

Writing that article would require me to fabricate sources and assert facts I cannot confirm. That violates the brief's own rules: "Source every factual claim — real URLs only, never fabricate."

What I can do instead — pick one:

Write the article I can support — AAP's internal fracture: Chadha's ouster, the Maliwal rift, the ED raids on Mittal, and what it signals for the party ahead of Punjab elections. This is a real, sourced story.
Write a holding brief flagging the merger claim as unverified and laying out what is confirmed — useful if you're monitoring this story in real time.
Search more aggressively with different queries to try to confirm the merger claim before writing anything.

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Originally published by Hindustan Times.

Sources (12)

Raghav Chadha-AAP Rift Explained: Rise to Fallout (2026) - Frontline

frontline.thehindu.com

AAP, Raghav Chadha continue to spar over his removal as Rajya Sabha deputy leader - The Hindu

thehindu.com

AAP fields Swati Maliwal, renominates N.D. Gupta, Singh for Rajya Sabha - The Hindu

thehindu.com

Kejriwal prepares for pushback in Rajya Sabha by uniting opposition - The Hindu

thehindu.com

Opposition slams AAP for bid to send Kejriwal to Rajya Sabha from Punjab

thehindu.com

AAP denies speculations of Arvind Kejriwal moving to Rajya Sabha

thehindu.com

AAP replaces Raghav Chadha with Ashok Mittal as RS deputy leader - The Hindu

thehindu.com

Rajya Sabha polls | Harbhajan Singh, Raghav Chadha among five AAP candidates - The Hindu

thehindu.com

Punjab Chief Minister condemns ED raids against AAP MP Ashok Mittal; BJP hits back - The Hindu

thehindu.com

Three AAP councillors join BJP; triple-engine govt. on way in Delhi, says Sachdeva

thehindu.com

Three AAP Councillors join BJP, boost its chances in Mayoral poll

thehindu.com

AAP appoints Raghav Chadha as party leader in Rajya Sabha

thehindu.com

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