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Punjab CM Seeks President's Recall of Seven AAP Rajya Sabha Defectors
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, on April 25, 2026, sought a meeting with President Draupadi Murmu to demand the recall of seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs who defected to the BJP on April 24, 2026. Mann attended with a delegation of AAP MLAs and criticized the defectors as traitors, using a culinary analogy to underscore the MPs' lack of independent political identity outside the party. He argued the merger raises questions about legality and asserted the AAP’s Assembly majority reflects the public will.
Why It Matters
The move deepens the AAP-BJP confrontation and raises questions about defection rules, representation, and the legitimacy of party-switching by MPs elected under a different banner.
Timeline
2 Events
April 25, 2026: Punjab Chief Minister seeks President's recall of seven AAP Rajya Sabha defectors
April 25, 2026
Mann, accompanied by a delegation of AAP MLAs, sought an appointment with President Draupadi Murmu to formally demand the recall of the seven Rajya Sabha members who switched to the BJP. He planned to present the AAP's stance against the defectors and argued that the party's 94 of 117-seat Assembly majority reflects the public will. He criticised the defectors as traitors and posted a Punjabi culinary analogy on X to illustrate that while ingredients such as ginger, garlic, cumin, fenugreek powder, red chilli, black pepper, and coriander contribute to a dish, they cannot constitute a meal alone. Mann contended the merger raises questions about its legality and ethics and aimed to challenge it.
April 24, 2026: Seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs defect to BJP in factional merger
April 24, 2026
Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Swati Maliwal, and Vikramjit Sahney defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party, led by Chadha and Pathak. They described their departure as a 'factional merger' and said the move was rooted in the party straying from its foundational principles.