Raghav Chadha, the latest leader to join the Bharatiya Janata Party, said on Monday that he left the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) due to what he described as a “toxic work environment.”. The Rajya Sabha member left the AAP along with six other leaders last week. CP Radhakrishnan, the chairperson of the Upper House of Parliament, approved their merger with the party. The AAP has denounced the departing leaders for what it calls a “betrayal.” Chadha has now outlined his reasons for the high-profile departure in a video shared on Instagram.
“There are people who want to understand why I made this decision, and today’s video is meant for them,” he opened. Chadha explained that he entered politics after giving up a successful career as a Chartered Accountant. He noted that he was among the founding members of AAP and devoted almost 15 years of his “prime youth” to the party.
I devoted 15 years of the best years of my youth to this party. I worked extremely hard for it, putting in my blood, sweat, and tears. But today, this is no longer the same party. The work environment has become toxic, and you are prevented from doing your job.
He claimed that AAP had become a "toxic work environment," where members were reportedly prevented from doing their jobs properly or expressing themselves openly. "You are blocked from speaking in Parliament," he said. He asserted that decision-making within the AAP has fallen under the control of individuals he described as corrupt and compromised. According to him, the party is now led by such people, who, he alleged, prioritize their own personal interests rather than serving the country.
I had three options: Raghav Chadha
Chadha said he weighed three options: quitting politics altogether, staying in AAP to push for internal reforms, or moving to a different political platform to pursue what he called “positive politics.”
He said he had begun to feel that he might be the right person, but in the wrong party, and described his final decision as a collective one made by seven MPs who left at the same time. The seven MPs are Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, and Rajinder Gupta.
That is why I—not alone, not just one or two, but a total of seven MPs—chose to sever our ties with this political party. One person can be mistaken, two people can be mistaken, but not all seven,” he said. “And those countless educated, learned individuals who once shared in this party’s vision and have since left it—can all of them be wrong?”
Chadha used an analogy to clarify his exit, urging people to “look at it this way,” likening his political journey to a situation in a typical workplace.
If your workplace turns toxic, if the environment there becomes poisonous, how much will you actually be able to accomplish? Will you even be able to continue working in such a place? And if you are prevented from doing your job, if your efforts are stifled and your voice is muted, then how will you respond?
He further stated that in such situations, "the correct choice is to leave that job." He also responded to public questions about whether he would keep advocating for citizens’ concerns after becoming a member of the BJP.He said, “Many of you have asked whether I will keep speaking up about your concerns… I want to assure you that I will continue to highlight your problems with even greater vigor and enthusiasm.”
Raghav Chadha’s BJP switch under anti-defection laws
Chadha’s defection ahead of next year’s Punjab elections sparked a political controversy over AAP’s prospects, coming after the party, which had held sway in Delhi for 11 years, was swept aside by the BJP in 2025.
Chadha’s decision has plunged the AAP into a severe numbers crunch after the party lost seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs. The situation has also opened the door to a potentially lengthy legal confrontation under the anti-defection law.
The Tenth Schedule of the Constitution permits legislators to change parties only when at least two-thirds of a party’s members consent. It serves as a safeguard against defections driven by political opportunism. Once this threshold is reached, MPs may either join another party or operate as an independent group without facing disqualification.
In this instance, the threshold was seven MPs, and with Chadha and six others defecting at the same time, the group satisfied the legal requirement.