Swati Maliwal, a fiery Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament (MP), surprised Indian politics on Friday (April 24) by defecting from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), unleashing a blistering X post that accuses AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal of abandoning the party’s founding principles.
Her words paint a picture of corruption, thuggery and personal betrayal, capping a mass exodus of seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs- including Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal- to the BJP. Swati Maliwal’s post, shared while she attended a parliamentary meeting in Itanagar, and promises much more details upon her return to Delhi.
साल 2006 में अपनी नौकरी छोड़कर मैंने देश सेवा का मार्ग चुना था। RTI आंदोलन, अन्ना आंदोलन, आम आदमी पार्टी के गठन और दिल्ली महिला आयोग में 8 साल निष्ठापूर्वक काम करते हुए, मैंने हर चरण में पूरी ईमानदारी और समर्पण से योगदान दिया।
जिन सिद्धांतों, मूल्यों और ईमानदार राजनीति के संकल्प…
— Swati Maliwal (@SwatiJaiHind) April 24, 2026
7 MPs led by Raghav Chadha merge with BJP
Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal publicly declared a seismic split from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), stating that two-thirds of AAP’s Rajya Sabha members—out of a total 10—have opted to merge with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). This move invokes anti-defection law provisions under the Constitution, allowing the group to retain their seats without disqualification. The trio made the revelation at a high-profile press conference, marking a major blow to AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal’s national ambitions.
Full list of defecting MPs-
- Raghav Chadha (Delhi youth face and strategist)
- Sandeep Pathak (AAP’s national general secretary)
- Ashok Mittal (Senior Punjab leader)
- Swati Maliwal (former Delhi Commission for Women chief)
- Harbhajan Singh (Cricketing legend turned politician)
- Vikramjit Singh Sahney (Businessman MP)
- Rajinder Gupta (Industrialist representative)
Roots in activism: From RTI to AAP
Swati Maliwal’s story starts with sacrifice and idealism. In 2006, she quit her job to embrace national service, diving into the Right to Information (RTI) movement that armed ordinary Indians against bureaucratic secrecy. She then fuelled the 2011 Anna Hazare-led India Against Corruption campaign, which birthed AAP in 2012 as a beacon of honest governance.
For almost eight years, she poured her energy into the Delhi Commission for Women, serving with “complete honesty and devotion.” Her post on X frames this as the pure foundation now lost.
Sorrowful indictment of abandoned values
Heartache defines her core accusation as she clearly mentioned, “With great sorrow today, I must say 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.”
This isn’t just an abstract critique- it’s a founder’s lament over AAP’s drift from anti-corruption roots into what she sees as moral decay, echoing broader debates on the party’s governance in Delhi and beyond.
ALSO READInside Raghav Chadha’s political career: From AAP’s poster boy to BJP turncoat
Reviving the 2024 assault horror
Maliwal doesn’t hold back on personal trauma, reiterating her May 2024 claim of brutal assault at Arvind Kejriwal’s residence. “At his residence, on his signal, I was brutally beaten and treated with utmost indecency,” she writes, alleging Kejriwal shielded the ‘goon’- his close aide- by granting him top posts. “To protect his goon, he went to extreme lengths… Threats were made to ruin me, and every possible effort was made against me.”
This reignites a scandal that once spotlighted women’s safety in politics, with Swati Maliwal positioning former Delhi CM Kejriwal as complicit.
ALSO READRaghav Chadha, Kejriwal’s ‘blue-eyed boy’, joins BJP: Who are the 7 other ‘disgruntled’ MPs he named?
Systemic rot: Corruption, goons and Punjab’s plunder
Swati Maliwal’s broader charges expose alleged rot under Kejriwal’s watch- “unchecked corruption,” assaults on women, promotion of “thuggish elements,” and “betrayal and looting” in Punjab. “Seeing all this, I have decided to leave the party today,” she declares.
Maliwal posted on X from Itanagar during official duties, saying- “After returning to Delhi tonight, I will speak in detail on this matter. Jai Hind.”
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