--- title: "AAP Defectors Strengthen BJP in Punjab | Model Diplomat" description: "Six AAP Rajya Sabha MPs defecting to the BJP reshape Punjab's political map, though the state's contest remains complex heading into the 2027 state elections." url: "https://modeldiplomat.com/story/aaps-punjab-defectors-boost-bjp-ahead-of-2027-elections" --- # AAP Defectors Strengthen BJP in Punjab Chadha leads six AAP MPs to BJP, reshaping Punjab politics. Model DiplomatApril 24, 20263 min readPunjab [AgenciesRaghav Chadha and 6 AAP Rajya Sabha MPs join BJP ... - The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/raghav-chadha-aap-mps-join-bjp/article70901275.ece)[The HinduAAP replaces Raghav Chadha with Ashok Mittal as RS deputy leader - The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/videos/aap-replaces-raghav-chadha-with-ashok-mittal-as-rs-deputy-leader/article70819373.ece)[PTIBJP has again 'given Punjabis a shove', AAP chief Kejriwal says ...](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/aap-rajya-sabha-mps-quit-bjp-kejriwal-punjab-raghav-chadha/article70901414.ece) ## AAP's Punjab Fortress Cracks as Chadha Delivers BJP Six MPs *Seven AAP Rajya Sabha defectors — six from Punjab — hand BJP a foothold in its weakest state, ten months before the 2027 assembly election.* **Raghav Chadha** and six fellow AAP Rajya Sabha MPs — **Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikram Sahney, and Swati Maliwal** — formally joined the BJP on April 24, 2026. Chadha framed it as a merger, claiming the group represents **two-thirds of AAP's Rajya Sabha bloc** — the constitutional threshold that prevents anti-defection proceedings. For BJP, it is the most significant political gain in Punjab since the party's near-wipeout in the 2022 assembly elections, when it won just **2 of 117 seats**. ## What BJP Just Acquired — and Why It Doesn't Easily Convert The raw arithmetic flatters BJP. Going from 2 MLAs and zero Punjab Rajya Sabha MPs to absorbing six Punjab-linked RS members is a real organisational jolt. Chadha and Pathak are two of AAP's sharpest national-level operators. Pathak, in particular, was AAP's national general secretary — the man who ran the party's expansion strategy. But Punjab's political arithmetic rarely follows Delhi logic. BJP remains deeply associated with the **farm law crisis of 2020–21**, which cost it nearly all political goodwill in rural Punjab. The defectors carry the same liability: AAP elected them via Punjab MLAs, meaning they have no independent voter base in the state. Kejriwal was quick to weaponise this, calling the move BJP "giving Punjabis a shove" — framing the defectors as carpetbaggers surrendering to the same party farmers mobilised against. That line will stick in constituencies where Jat Sikh landholders remain the decisive vote bloc. **Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann** attributed the defection directly to BJP's strategy of engineering splits rather than winning seats — a credible read, but also a deflection from a real problem: AAP is haemorrhaging its highest-profile national faces less than a year before the state goes to polls (current projections put the Punjab assembly election in **early 2027**). ## Who Actually Benefits Here **BJP** gets names, media oxygen, and a narrative of AAP's inevitable decay. It does not immediately get votes. The party's path to relevance in Punjab still runs through either a credible alliance — with the **Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)**, with whom relations remain strained — or a candidate slate that doesn't read as Delhi-imposed outsiders. **Congress** is the sleeper winner. Every percentage point AAP loses to internal chaos is a percentage point that historically reverts to Congress in Punjab, not BJP. A fractured AAP hands Congress an opening to reclaim its pre-2017 dominance without winning a single internal battle. **AAP** loses the Rajya Sabha bloc but retains what matters in Punjab: the state government, Bhagwant Mann's direct political base, and 92 MLAs. The organisational wound is real; the electoral wound is not yet fatal. For deeper context on India's shifting political coalitions, see [India](https://modeldiplomat.com/discover/india "modeldiplomat.com") and [International Affairs](https://modeldiplomat.com/discover/international "modeldiplomat.com"). ### What to Watch Next The **anti-defection petition** is the immediate flashpoint. AAP will challenge whether Chadha's group genuinely clears the two-thirds merger threshold; the Rajya Sabha Chairman's ruling will determine whether the MPs keep their seats. Watch for that decision within **30 days**. Beyond the legal fight, the tell is candidate selection. If BJP fields even one Chadha-bloc defector in a Punjab constituency, it confirms the party is betting the "outsider" label won't stick. If it parks them in national roles and runs fresh Punjab faces, it signals the opposite — that BJP's own internal polling shows the defectors are assets in Delhi, liabilities in Amritsar. The 2027 Punjab election clock is running. The next move belongs to SAD. ([Source: The Hindu](https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/punjab/aap-mps-walk-out-casting-shadow-over-2027-assembly-polls-in-punjab/article70902317.ece "thehindu.com")) [AAP](https://modeldiplomat.com/tag/aap)[BJP](https://modeldiplomat.com/tag/bjp)[Punjab](https://modeldiplomat.com/tag/punjab)[Politics](https://modeldiplomat.com/tag/politics)[Defection](https://modeldiplomat.com/tag/defection)[2027 Elections](https://modeldiplomat.com/tag/2027-elections) Discover more [India](https://modeldiplomat.com/story/bjp-and-congress-clash-over-madhya-pradesh-bill-defeat) #### [BJP Congress Clash Over MP Bill Defeat](https://modeldiplomat.com/story/bjp-and-congress-clash-over-madhya-pradesh-bill-defeat) [The BJP's defeat of the women's quota amendment sparks a political narrative war with Congress, impacting future elections.](https://modeldiplomat.com/story/bjp-and-congress-clash-over-madhya-pradesh-bill-defeat) [India](https://modeldiplomat.com/story/bjps-delimitation-strategy-women-as-political-shields) #### [BJP's Delimitation Strategy](https://modeldiplomat.com/story/bjps-delimitation-strategy-women-as-political-shields) [Congress leader K.C. 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