Raghav Chadha Alleges ‘Vendetta’ After AAP Turncoats Join BJP 

Chadha claims he is the “next target” as Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann meets President Murmu, demanding disqualification of seven rebel Rajya Sabha MPs.

A day after seven Aam Aadmi Party MPs formally joined the Bharatiya Janata Party, Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha has alleged a campaign of political retribution from the Punjab government, claiming he is now in their crosshairs.

‘I am their next target’

Addressing reporters after a meeting with President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday, Chadha accused the Bhagwant Mann-led dispensation of weaponising state agencies to settle scores.

“They have started a dangerous game of revenge with the help of agencies such as the Vigilance Board and the Pollution Board. According to sources, I will be their next target,” Chadha said. He added that threats were being circulated through official state resources on social media, an allegation the Punjab government has not yet responded to.

The clearest sign of escalating tension came when both Chadha and rebel MP Sandeep Pathak met the President in the morning, followed hours later by Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann seeking the exact opposite—action against the very same leaders.

Mann seeks disqualification

Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, who also met President Murmu later in the day, demanded the immediate cancellation of the rebel MPs’ membership.

“The way the Constitution was violated when seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs claimed they were a different party and merged with the BJP is unconstitutional. We demanded the cancellation of their membership. If the Central government misuses its power in Punjab, we will take action,” Mann told reporters.

Several AAP MLAs from Punjab have travelled to New Delhi in a show of strength, signalling that the party intends to fight the defections legally and politically.

‘Fake FIRs and intimidation’

Chadha alleged that the pressure was not just political but bureaucratic. He claimed that industrialist Rajinder Gupta’s factory had faced punitive action, including having its water supply disconnected, and that former AAP leaders were being hit with fabricated cases.

“We made the President aware of the misuse of Punjab’s state machinery. She has assured us of protection and of upholding the Constitution,” Chadha said.

Sandeep Pathak echoed similar concerns. “We exercised our constitutional right to leave the party. Now, fake FIRs are being filed to threaten us. We are not scared and will fight this legally,” Pathak said, referring to cases he claims were registered by Punjab Police.

A warning to officials

In a remark that drew sharp reactions, Chadha issued a pointed warning to state bureaucrats. “I want to tell Punjab government officers to be cautious, as the present government has only a few years remaining.”

He further alleged that AAP workers, possibly with police help, vandalised former cricketer Harbhajan Singh’s residence by scrawling “deshdrohi” (traitor) outside his home. The cricketer has not yet commented on the incident.

Punjab Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO dismissed the political crossovers as “undemocratic,” adding that the manner in which the seven MPs switched sides was a betrayal of the mandate.

With both sides now taking their battle to the President’s door, the coming days could see legal petitions and potential disqualification proceedings. For now, the political corridor in Delhi is watching how the Rashtrapati Bhavan responds to two opposing demands from the same state.

After Exit, AAP Workers Label Ex-Strategist ‘Traitor’ in Mungeli  

Following Sandeep Pathak’s switch to BJP with six other RS MPs, Chhattisgarh AAP workers protested outside his family home in Lormi, calling the former ‘think tank’ a ‘septic tank’.

Lormi (Mungeli): A political switch that played out in New Delhi sparked an angry, ground-level reaction nearly 1,200 kilometres away in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur district on Monday.

Close to a dozen Aam Aadmi Party workers gathered outside the ancestral home of Sandeep Pathak in the Bataha village of Lormi. The protest began shortly after noon, with slogans against the former Rajya Sabha MP who joined the BJP over the weekend.

The most visible act of anger, however, was scrawled on an outer wall of the family property. Using black ink, protesters wrote ‘Gaddar’ (traitor) in Devanagari script. Local police said they are aware of the incident but no formal complaint has been filed yet.

‘Think Tank’ vs ‘Septic Tank’

The protest was more than just an expression of anger. The party’s official X handle posted images from the site, adding a sharp, rhetorical twist.

“Jise ‘Think Tank’ samjha, wo ‘Septic Tank’ nikla,” the post read—a phrase that quickly began circulating on political WhatsApp groups in Raipur.

The choice of words was deliberate. Until last week, Pathak was considered the principal electoral architect behind AAP’s 2022 Punjab victory and the man tasked with expanding the party’s footprint in Chhattisgarh and Gujarat.

A Chhattisgarh Son Who Went National

For AAP workers in Mungeli, the exit is personal. Pathak, born in 1979 to a farmer in Bataha, is a local who made it global—from a village school in Lormi to a PhD from Cambridge.

His political rise was rapid. After joining AAP in 2016, he became the national general secretary and was appointed the party’s in-charge for Chhattisgarh roughly a year ago. His job was to build an organisation from scratch in a state where the BJP and Congress have historically dominated.

“He understood the caste equations of this region. He spoke our language,” said one protester who declined to be named. “That’s why it hurts more.”

Why His Exit Shakes AAP in Chhattisgarh

Pathak wasn’t just another name on the list of seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs who defected to the BJP. He was the system-builder.

Sources familiar with the party’s internal workings said Pathak focused heavily on booth-level structures—a tedious but critical element for any election-winning machinery. His departure leaves a vacuum in AAP’s organisational framework in at least three states.

Initial reports from party circles in Raipur suggest that local cadres now feel adrift. The protest in Lormi was as much about public shaming as it was about signalling internal frustration.

What Next for the Local Cadre?

The immediate impact is being felt at the ground level. AAP has a limited but visible presence in parts of Bilaspur and Durg, largely built around youth and disgruntled Congress voters.

With Pathak gone, the party’s stated ambition to contest the next assembly elections in Chhattisgarh appears uncertain. No replacement as state in-charge has been announced yet.

For the workers who gathered in Lormi on Monday afternoon, the immediate task was symbolic. But political observers in Raipur note that replacing the man who was both the face and the brain of AAP’s expansion in the Hindi heartland will not be easy.