“Saam, Daam, Dand, Bhed” is an ancient Indian strategic phrase for achieving goals or resolving conflicts by any means necessary, often translated as “Persuasion, Bribery/Price, Punishment, and Division”. It represents a four-step approach ranging from diplomatic dialogue to the calculated use of force and dismantling an opponent’s unity. From the Chanakya era to the present, the policy still holds good. Even after independence, previous central governments had also been using this policy to dismantle the duly elected governments. And, during the last decade, it has also been used to weaken the opposition parties and topple the democratic governments using undemocratic methods. The latest step to destabilise the Aam Aadmi Party’s web is the stunning defection of 7 Rajya Sabha members.
The sudden defection of seven out of ten Members of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the ruling BJP has not only shocked the AAP and its leaders, but also has sparked a question– ‘What lures the Horses to Cross Over the Stable Wall?’ Green Grass Pasture swaying outside the stable walls, when they are being fed dry and stale fodder? Callous and oppressive behaviour of the stable master? Waning power of the whip of the owner or something else?
AAP WORKERS SHOWING RESENTMENT OVER DEFECTION OF 7 MPs- PHOTO CREDIT AAP FB PAGE.
The reportedly spearheading leader, in this event of defection, Raghav Chadha, states – Why did they take such a step? Nearly all the defectors allege the party supremo and his coterie of third-degree behaviour and sidelining the main heroes of defection—Raghav Chadha and Sandeep Pathak, who were enjoying free rein before 2024.
Raghav says, “I’m a founding member of AAP, and no one knows them better than I do. The party that came with the promise of corruption-free India is now compromised and corrupted.”
He further revealed, “I am telling you the real reason as to why I distanced myself from party activities. I did not want to be a part of their sins. I was not eligible for their friendship because I was not a part of their crime. We had just two options – either quit politics and give up our public work in the last 15-16 years, or we do positive politics with our energy and experience.”
“So, we have decided that we, the 2/3rd members belonging to the AAP in Rajya Sabha, exercise the provisions of the Constitution of India and merge ourselves with the BJP.”
Another Rajya Sabha member, Swati Maliwal, in her X @SwatiJaiHind, tweeted on 24th April, “In 2006, I left my job to choose the path of national service. Through the RTI movement, the Anna movement, the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party, and 8 years of dedicated work in the Delhi Women’s Commission, I contributed with complete honesty and devotion at every stage.”
With great sorrow today, I must say that the principles, values, and resolve for honest politics with which we began this journey have been abandoned by Arvind Kejriwal ji and, at his behest, the entire Aam Aadmi Party.
At his residence, on his signal, I was brutally beaten and treated with utmost indecency. To protect his goon, he went to extreme lengths and rewarded him with high positions. Threats were made to ruin me, and every possible effort was made against me.
Seeing the unchecked corruption growing in the Aam Aadmi Party under Kejriwal ji’s patronage, incidents of harassment and assault against women, the promotion of thuggish elements, and the betrayal and looting happening in Punjab, I have decided to leave the party today.”
Rajya Sabha MP Vikram Sahney, the third one saying good-bye to AAP, on quitting the AAP along with 6 other MPs, says, “In the 2022 Punjab elections, where the party got a very historic mandate, Sandeep Pathak and Raghav Chadha played a major role in ticket distribution, candidate selection, and the overall strategy. But when they were sidelined, they became frustrated. Then, over the past two years, especially after losing the Delhi elections, a new team took over. This is what Pathak ji used to tell us. When Raghav ji was removed from the Deputy Leader post, it further aggravated the situation. The next day, he released a video. Somewhere, the sidelining and ignoring of these two core leaders led to growing frustration, which eventually spread. They spoke to other MPs like us, and it became clear that there was dissatisfaction among everyone. We felt we were not able to serve Punjab the way we should.”
Raising the question of morality, CPIML Liberation leader Com. Dipankar Bhattacharya tweets, “Rajya Sabha MPs of Aam Aadmi Party joining BJP must first resign. Joining the BJP after getting elected on an anti-BJP vote is a brazen betrayal of the electors’ trust and mandate. These MPs are free to change their politics, but have no right to insult their voters.” This is moral advice, but morality in politics has faded away in such a way that even in the speeches of the political leaders, it is missing.
Political circles analyse that it is best known to the defectors why they have boarded the BJP boat. Whether it was due to any compulsion, terrorising pressure, or smelling a brighter future in the new entity? But one thing they should keep in mind is that BJP always applies a use-and-throw policy. It will first use them in trouble and then throw them into rubble. Haryana’s JJP is the latest and perfect example of the BJP’s Use-Fuse and Refuse theory.
Alleging BJP of foul play, in a press statement on 24th April, Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann said that BJP and these MPs have betrayed Punjab, and Punjab will certainly give them a befitting reply. With no base in Punjab, the BJP is resorting to manipulation & intimidation to buy leaders.
“The wise and brave people of Punjab will never forgive the traitors who have backstabbed them for their own vested interests. Punjabis have never forgotten acts of betrayal, and those who deceived them have vanished into political oblivion. In a democracy, the party is supreme, not individuals who come and go as per their whims and fancies.”
But, commenting on the statement of Bhagwant Mann stating the defectors as traitors and betrayers of public faith, Shiromani Akali Dal Supremo Sukhbir Singh Badal on his twitter account @officeofssbadal pinches Bhagwant Mann and Arvind Kejriwal, “As you sow, so shall you reap! You sowed corruption. You sowed moneybags. You sowed opportunists. You sowed outsiders. So how could you expect to reap commitment and loyalty? Yesterday’s development is a direct outcome of your betrayal of Punjabis by preferring corrupt outsiders and moneybags over your volunteers and people of the State. A sad day for Punjab, and a moment of deep reflection for everyone in the country.”
How do the other leaders see this episode?
AAP Punjab chief spokesperson Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, lashing out at the Rajya Sabha members who bowed down to the BJP, said that the BJP has played a trick to silence our voice in the Rajya Sabha, and now the time has come to fight a fierce battle against this. The party had chosen people connected to various fields, but these traitors betrayed us!
Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema, Senior Vice President, Shiromani Akali Dal, said satirically, “The Chief Minister of Punjab is staging a drama by going to the President and invoking the anti-defection law. Because two-thirds of the members have gone, the anti-defection law does not apply to them.
Now that your members have left, you can’t digest this fact. But when your party poached an MLA from the Shiromani Akali Dal and made him part of your government, where were your principles then?
You tell us, what service to Punjab did you see in them that you started making them Rajya Sabha members? In reality, looking at the failed performance of the government from all sides, Bhagwant Mann should dissolve the government.
Punjab Congress President and Lok Sabha Member, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, commented, “The AAP is devoid of any ideology and its legislators and parliamentarians do not have any ideological commitments, and it is not surprising that they joined BJP today. “Today it is just seven MPs, tomorrow it may be 50 legislators who may desert the AAP”, he noted, adding that the way the AAP distributed RS and assembly tickets, everyone knows.
About the RS members in particular, he pointed out that these were mainly given to the big industrialists and businessmen who helped the AAP in multiple ways. Today, when they defected to the BJP, the AAP should not have been surprised, as they were never ideologically committed to AAP and had joined the party purely for their business interests.
Quoting the example of Ashok Mittal, who recently faced ED raids, he said, ” This is a normal course in the current times that people join the BJP to avoid any inquiry or investigation.”
The PCC president pointed out that everybody knew how these big businessmen who had nothing to do with Punjab were fielded by the AAP for the Rajya Sabha, while the workers and volunteers were ignored.
Reacting to the current defection of AAP MPs, Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gahlot said, “The BJP folks won’t mend their ways with their antics. They are continuously murdering democracy in the country. We have to admit that democracy is weakening right in front of everyone. All the agencies are under their control—raids were just carried out on Mittal, who is a Member of Parliament. The BJP had previously harassed Raghav Chadha too, and as for the others whose names you’re taking, they had put all those names in the liquor case, so this is their policy—they must be feeling pretty pleased with themselves.”
“A washing machine is in place—everyone will now come out squeaky clean. There won’t be any cases left against anyone. This washing machine they’ve set up—they broke Congress people in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, and they didn’t spare anyone here either.,” added Gahlot.
Will this defection affect AAP’s scope in the 2027 Punjab assembly elections?
Political observers see all this defection drama as the script of the 2027 assembly elections in Punjab. Will the BJP succeed in sailing its old fogey boat in the five turbulent rivers of Punjab to win this political battle using these newly recruited generals?
Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, Chief Spokesperson, AAP Punjab, says, “None of the people who joined the BJP could secure even 2,000 votes if they were to contest elections in Punjab. The Aam Aadmi Party will suffer no harm from their betrayal.”
Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja Warring said on 24th April, 2026, that the defection of seven Aam Aadmi Party MPs to BJP will not make any difference to anyone in Punjab, as all these MPs are rootless and have no base in the state.
Now the question arises – whether the BJP will get any boost through these defections in Punjab?
The political analysts conclude: The ground reality reflects that not even a single defector out of these seven self-claimed leaders possesses any mass following and base at the grassroots in Punjab. Their joining hands with the BJP does not seem to fructify any significant boost to the central party in the state. But one thing is very clear. This defection certainly signals the weakening of the Aam Aadmi Party’s organization, leadership, and base. It also indicates that AAP’s vote bank may shift to the old rivals– Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). But the most expected speculation is that the SAD party will rejoin its former partner BJP in the forthcoming elections. Will the duo jointly make a remarkable score? It still seems a far-fetched thought.
