Raghav Chadha news highlights: Rebel MP Sahney cites ‘crisis’ in Punjab as reason for merger with BJP

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: Fresh developments unfolded a day after Raghav Chadha and six others MPs left AAP and merged with the BJP. Take a look:

• The AAP said it will approach Vice President and Rajya Sabha chairman CP Radhakrishnan, seeking the disqualification the rebel MPs.
• Raghav Chadha said that the AAP was hands of the “compromised and corrupt” and that decision to leave was driven by “disgust” and not “fear”.
• He also backed the BJP in the ‘Sheesh Mahal 2’ attack against Arvind Kejriwal. During a media briefing, Delhi minister Parvesh Verma had accused Kejriwal and living “lavishly” and shared pictures of the bungalow allotted to him at Lodhi Estate.
• The AAP countered the pictures shared by Verma as “Fake” and said they were “downloaded from Pinterest”.
• In Punjab, AAP workers protested against Rajya Sabha MPs who merged with the BJP. The walls of premises linked to leaders Harbhajan Singh, Ashok Mittal and Rajinder Gupta were spray painted with the term ‘Gaddar’ in parts of Punjab.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: Opposition parties in Punjab on Saturday accused Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann of remaining silent on the state's issues and acting only when his "chair began to shake", as he sought time to meet the President over the exodus of AAP Rajya Sabha MPs.

"The moment his chair began to shake, he remembered the President. But on the issues of 'bandi Singhs' (Sikh prisoners), farmers and Punjab's rights, there has always been silence. This is the real face of Bhagwant Mann," SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia was quoted as saying by PTI.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: AAP workers were seen protesting outside the residence of Rajya Sabha MP Rajinder Gupta in Ludhiana. They wrote the word ‘Gaddar’ on the walls of his residence.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: Reacting to his merger with the BJP, rebel AAP leader Vikramjit Sahney cited a few reasons. “We took this decision seeing the crisis in Punjab. There is an agrarian crisis, plight of farmers is deplorable. The groundwater level there is dropping...Punjab has a debt of 4,50,000 crore. Freebies and subsidies are at peak. There are no jobs in Punjab,” he told ANI.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: AAP MP Malwinder Singh Kang reportedly urged the AAP to improve coordination with lawmakers and also take feedback from local party workers in Punjab.

He highlighted the AAP's lack of communication with lawmakers and shared the example of Sandeep Pathak, who was one of the seven MPs who merged with the BJP. "Sandeep had told me that he had not been contacted in the past one year. Had he been contacted regularly, he would not have left the party," Kang said, as quoted by PTI.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: A day after seven AAP MPs announced their merger with the BJP, graffiti of ‘gaddar’ written on them was seen in parts of Punjab.

The outer walls and the main gate of former cricketer Harbhajan Singh, the main entrance of the Phagwara campus of Lovely Professional University, owned by Ashok Mittal, and walls outside the residence of Rajinder Gupta were seen spray painted with the term ‘Gaddar’. Read full story here.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: The AAP's Punjab unit shared a picture depicting rebel leaders Raghav Chadha, Swati Maliwal, Rajinder Gupta, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh and Vikram Sahney ‘gaddars’.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: Rajya Sabha MP Kabil Sibal has called the AAP MPs' merger with the BJP “unconstitutional” as the law permits it only if the party is merged first.

“Anyone cannot simply merge on their own”, Sibal said, adding that the party first needs to decide to merge with another and pass a resolution on it.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday likened the BJP to the mythological demon Bakasur with insatiable hunger, a day after seven AAP MPs merged with the BJP.

"Let the garbage from other parties go the BJP so that it becomes a dumping ground," Raut said. "In Mahabharat, there is a demon called Bakasur whose hunger was insatiable. The BJP has become a party of Bakasur. It can eat anything," Raut said.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: Communist Party of India (CPI) General Secretary D Raja on Saturday said that the AAP must seriously review the reasons behind the departure of its Rajya Sabha MPs.

"AAP should seriously consider why such people were elected and how such people are leaving like this. It is for AAP to do some serious analysis and review...it is a serious matter...It will have an impact in Punjab as the AAP government is in Punjab...What will happen to democracy if such practices continue?" he said, as per an ANI report.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha continued his tirade against the AAP on Saturday, a day after he left the party to merge with the BJP.

He said that the seven MPs chose to leave because they believe the AAP has falled into “corrupt and compromised” hands.

“And to those who are saying this, especially the AAP leaders, that we left out of fear: We left the party after being disappointed,” he said.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: AAP's Lok Sabha MP Malvinder Singh Kang called for “better” coordination between the party and its lawmakers, a day after seven MPs from Rajya Sabha merged with the BJP.

Talking about Sandeep Pathak, one of the seven MPs who switched, Kang said: “Sandeep had told me that he had not been contacted in the past one year. Had he been contacted regularly, he would not have left the party".

"Feedback should be taken from the right persons, and those workers who are working at the ground level should be empowered," he further said, as quoted by news agency PTI.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha took fresh digs at AAP a day after his merger with the BJP alongside six others.

"Every honest, hardworking person feels that there is no longer room for work in the Aam Aadmi Party. And the Aam Aadmi Party is now walking on a wrong path that no one wants to be associated with. Consequently, one by one, many leaders have left the Aam Aadmi Party," Chadha said, as quoted by ANI.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar on Saturday denied Pravesh Verma's allegations regarding Arvind Kejriwal's new bungalow and said that the pictures shared by the BJP were “fake”.

"...These pictures, which were shown by a Delhi Minister and BJP MP, are available on Pinterest and were projected that these are pictures of the residence of Arvind Kejriwal, which is a big lie...This is another attempt to defame Arvind Kejriwal..." said Kakkar.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: Swati Maliwal, who is among the seven MPs who merged with the BJP in Rajya Sabha, said that AAP's stance of opposing the bill for women's reservation in Lok Sabha was the “limit” for her.

“I’ve worked for women all my life. I’ve championed women’s reservations, and their stance was that if I had remained in this party, I would have had to sign a statement saying that women’s reservations shouldn’t exist in this country...I’m joining the BJP because I’ve always been impressed by the BJP’s values and Prime Minister Modi’s leadership,” Swati Maliwal said.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: Congress leader Pratap Singh Bajwa reacted to seven AAP MPs, including Raghav Chadha, merging with the BJP.

“In Delhi, they’re saying they’ll challenge at Rashtrapati Bhavan, but think carefully before following — you may find Delhi itself working against you. As for numbers, I don’t know exactly, but their treasurer surely does. Punjab’s interests are now at stake…,” Bajwa said.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters, Delhi miniter Parvesh Sahib Singh Verma said Kejriwal has become habituated to living lavishly.

"After he was forced out of Sheesh Mahal by Dhurandhar voters of Delhi, he shifted to Punjab, where he grabbed a bungalow, and now he has prepared Sheesh Mahal 2 at Lodhi Estate," Verma said.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: AAP leader Atishi rejected the pictures shared by Delhi minister Parvesh Verma to attack Arvind Kejriwal over ‘Sheesh Mahal 2’.

“Today, BJP Minister @p_sahibsingh ji called the entire media to show pictures of Arvind Kejriwal ji's so-called new house... but the funny thing is that these pictures aren't of Kejriwal ji's house, but downloaded from 'Pinterest'!,” Atishi wrote on X.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: Raghav Chadha raked up the ‘Sheesh Mahal 2’ charge against Kejriwal hours after his merger with the BJP.

“I wonder how the few remaining good workers of the Aam Aadmi Party will respond when people in the streets and localities ask them questions about Sheesh Mahal. The Aam Aadmi Party should introspect and think about it,” Chadha said.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: Raghav Chadha launched a fresh attack on the AAP on Saturday, blaming the ‘sheeshmahal’ as one of the key reasons for the party's loss in the Delhi Assembly elections.

“Another important point is that today, Sheesh Mahal Part Two has come in Delhi. Some pictures of it have surfaced. If there was one major reason for the Aam Aadmi Party's loss in the Delhi elections, the Sheesh Mahal was one of the main reasons for the party's defeat,” Chadha said.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: Several AAP workers allegedly spray painted the word ‘Gaddar’ or traitor outside MP Harbhajan Singh's home in Jalandhar, a video shared by news agency ANI showed.

Singh is among the seven MPs who announced a merger with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: Social activist Anna Hazare on Saturday slammed AAP MPs Raghav Chadha and six others who switched sides to the BJP a day earlier.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Hazare said, “Leaving one party and joining another party is not right... Changing political parties for our selfish needs is not the right thing. This is not mentioned in our Constitution. Our Constitution is supreme. Our country functions based on the Constitution”. Read full story here.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Saturday reflected on the AAP MP's move towards the BJP and said that neither the leaders nor the BJP know what the term ‘merger’ means.

“...I don't think either the BJP or these seven RS members understand the Constitution very well, because they themselves don't know what the term 'merger' means. They do know how to bribe someone, how to bribe them. They have complete knowledge of this. But whether this is right or wrong, or unconstitutional, according to the Constitution, I believe neither they nor the BJP nor those who will agree to it know…,” Sibal was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

Raghav Chadha news LIVE updates: Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Saturday took a dig at the BJP after AAP MP Raghav Chadha and some other Rajya Sabha members merged with the party.

“The BJP washing machine is back along with the Modi washing powder. Those who projected themselves as paragons of virtue, integrity, and ideology stand brutally exposed,” Ramesh wrote on X.