In a move with far-reaching consequences for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party in Punjab, seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha members quit on Friday and merged the AAP legislature party in the Upper House with the BJP.These MPs — Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, Ashok Mittal, Vikramjit Sahney and Rajinder Gupta — defected as a bloc, evading disqualification from the Rajya Sabha under provisions of the Constitution’s anti-defection law, which allows a merger provided not less than a two-thirds of the members of the legislature party agree to the move.Flanked by Pathak and Mittal in Delhi, Raghav announced the decision of seven AAP MPs quitting and merging the legislature party in the RS with the BJP.Related news: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann calls defecting AAP MPs ‘traitors’, accuses BJP of poachingBehind AAP defections, Amit Shah’s ‘Mission Punjab’; more exits likelyMinutes after the announcement, they visited the BJP national headquarters and were welcomed to the saffron fold by national president Nitin Nabin and general secretaries Tarun Chugh and Arun Singh.“Welcomed Raghav Chadha ji, Sandeep Pathak ji and Ashok Mittal ji to the BJP family at the party HQ today. Also, best wishes to Harbhajan Singh ji, Swati Maliwal ji, Vikram Sahney ji and Rajinder Gupta ji to work under the dynamic leadership of PM Narendra Modi towards the goal of Viksit Bharat-2047,” Nitin Nabin said on X after the formal merger, which comes ahead of the 2027 Punjab polls.Raghav, recently removed by AAP as the deputy leader of the party in the RS, earlier today said all seven members had signed the letter of merger with the BJP and submitted it to RS Chairman CP Radhakrishnan.Announcing the move, Raghav, flanked by Pathak and Mittal, said, “AAP, which I nurtured with my blood and sweat and to which I gave 15 years of my youth, has completely strayed from its principles, values and core morals…Over the past few years, I have increasingly felt that I am the right person in the wrong party. Today, I announce my decision to move away from AAP and work more closely with the people.”Pathak and Maliwal too attributed the defection move to Arvind Kejriwal-led AAP’s abandonment of the party’s foundational principles of people-centric and clean politics. AAP, however, slammed the move as “the betrayal of the people of Punjab”.Of the seven MPs who have left, six are from Punjab and one (Swati Maliwal) is from Delhi. AAP is now left with only three members in the RS — Sanjay Singh, ND Gupta and Balbir Singh Seechewal.Kejriwal framed the shock Friday development as a betrayal of Punjab. “The BJP has once again shoved Punjabis,” he said in a terse one-liner on X.AAP’s RS leader Sanjay Singh, however, attacked the BJP and said “Operation Lotus” had been launched in Punjab.“The BJP, PM Modi and Amit Shah’s Operation Lotus and the conspiracy to stop the pro-people work of the Bhagwant Mann government in Punjab have begun on a large scale,” Sanjay Singh said, also attacking the BJP for alleged misuse of the ED and central agencies to force AAP leaders into submission.On April 15, the ED had conducted raids across entities linked to Lovely Professional University founder Chancellor Ashok Mittal in Punjab as part of a FEMA probe. Incidentally, Mittal replaced Raghav as the AAP deputy leader in the RS.The defecting AAP leaders today said they were feeling increasingly alienated by the outfit. Pathak, who was AAP national general secretary and party’s Punjab in-charge at one time, said he had never thought this situation would arise one day. “For 10 years, I was associated with this party. And today, I am parting ways with AAP, which has deviated from its principles,” Pathak said. Even Raghav was AAP co-in-charge of Punjab previously.Maliwal, who was one of AAP’s most visible faces in Delhi under Kejriwal as CM, accused AAP of promoting rampant corruption, patronising criminal elements and failing to address issues related to women’s safety. Maliwal was chairperson of the Delhi Commission for Women during AAP rule in the Capital.Optics apart, Friday’s development spells the severest blow to AAP since it was founded on November 26, 2012.The party had a dream start and run, as it thrice formed a government in Delhi until getting voted out last year. In 2022, AAP swept the Punjab elections. The same year, it registered maiden wins in the Gujarat Assembly poll with five MLAs. Later in the Jammu and Kashmir elections, AAP won one seat in 2024.Nationally, the Kejriwal-led party now has three Lok Sabha MPs and three Rajya Sabha MPs and faces an uphill task to keep its flock together as it prepares for the 2027 Punjab election cycle and to retain its foothold in Goa and Gujarat.