Raghav Chadha at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Friday, April 24, 2026. | Photo credit: Sushil Kumar Verma
In a massive rout for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha members defected on Friday (April 24, 2026) and are set to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), marking a major political reshuffle in the upper house. The AAP has accused the BJP of running “Operation Lotus” to fracture and cross-pollinate MPs.
MPs Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Kumar Mittal met BJP president Nitin Nabin at the party headquarters in the evening. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance currently has 141 members in the upper house.
Published – 24 Apr 2026 16:05 IST
