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Swati Maliwal finally leaves AAP after 2-year rift, joins Chadha-led merger with BJP: What stopped her so far
Maliwal was among seven Rajya Sabha MPs who exited AAP on April 24 as part of a coordinated breakaway led by Raghav Chadha.
Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal’s long standoff with the Aam Aadmi Party has finally culminated in her entry into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) but the delay wasn’t political hesitation as much as legal arithmetic.
Swati Maliwal was among seven Rajya Sabha MPs who exited AAP on April 24 as part of a coordinated breakaway led by Raghav Chadha. The group has now moved to merge with the BJP, crossing the two-thirds mark required under the anti-defection law.
Nearly two years after her public fallout with Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP, Swati Maliwal has formally aligned with the BJP.
Her departure comes after months of escalating tensions with the AAP leadership. Once considered close to Kejriwal, activist-turned-politician Maliwal had turned into one of AAP’s sharpest internal critics, accusing the leadership of abandoning its founding principles.
Swati Maliwal's statement
Announcing her decision on Friday, Maliwal wrote on X: “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."
She said that it was “with great sorrow” she noted 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”.
She repeated allegations that are currently part of a legal battle: "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 with Punjab, I have decided to leave the party today.”
Also Read | Why Swati Maliwal’s fight with AAP won't impact her Rajya Sabha seat
Why she couldn’t leave earlier
Maliwal, who has been at loggerheads with the Aam Aadmi Party leadership since 2024 but did not resign earlier as it would have cost her Rajya Sabha membership.
The party, too, avoided expelling her, since that would not have automatically unseated her from the Upper House.
Maliwal needed to be part of at least two-thirds of AAP’s Rajya Sabha MPs to make a legally protected switch. That threshold has now been met, with Raghav Chadha and others joining the coordinated move. Her current term in the Rajya Sabha — she was elected from Delhi — runs until 2030.
What changed now
The coordinated exit of seven MPs has altered the equation. With two-thirds of AAP’s Rajya Sabha members now backing the split, the group can legally merge with another party, in this case, the BJP, without triggering disqualification. This collective move has given Maliwal a safe political exit route that wasn’t available to her earlier.
From insider to dissenter
A former chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women, Swati Maliwal was once among the most visible defenders of the Aam Aadmi Party.
The most serious flashpoint came in May 2024, when she alleged that she was assaulted at the chief minister’s residence by an aide of Arvind Kejriwal. In her complaint, she said she was “slapped multiple times, punched… and even dragged,” adding that her calls for help went unanswered. An FIR was subsequently filed, invoking charges of assault and criminal intimidation.
The allegations sent immediate political shockwaves. Her dissent soon extended beyond internal criticism.
She staged protests, targeted her own party leadership over civic issues, and publicly challenged Kejriwal on governance failures, including pollution in the Yamuna.
