Social activist Anna Hazare on Saturday took a dim view of Raghav Chadha’s decision to part ways with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), saying such moves driven by personal interests are “not right”.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Hazare said, “Leaving one party and joining another party is not right… Changing political parties for our selfish needs is not the right thing. This is not mentioned in our Constitution. Our Constitution is supreme. Our country functions based on the Constitution”. Track Raghav Chadha BJP merger live updates.
Hazare, who was the face of the 2011 anti-corruption movement that eventually led to AAP’s formation. Though he later distanced himself from the party and its convenor Arvind Kejriwal.
At the same time, he indicated that internal issues within AAP may have contributed to the exits. “It is their (AAP leadership’s) fault. Had that party followed the right way, they would not have left,” news agency PTI quoted Hazare as saying, earlier.
He added, “Everyone has the right to hold an opinion in a democracy. They (Chadha and others) must have faced some trouble, which is why they left,” he said while speaking to reporters in Maharashtra’s Ahilyanagar district.
The remarks come a day after Chadha, along with Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal, announced their exit from AAP at a joint press conference in Delhi and joined the BJP.
Chadha claimed that nearly two-thirds, seven, of AAP’s Rajya Sabha MPs had quit and would function as a separate faction. He added that he and six other MPs had formally informed the Chairman of the House about their decision, in accordance with rules, effectively signalling a split in the party’s Upper House ranks.
Hazare reiterated that such departures point to deeper issues within the party. “Had the party gone in the right direction, they would not have quit the party,” he said, adding, “There must be some or the other reason (for their leaving AAP). In a democracy, every person has a view about where to stay and leave.”
AAP readies strategy after setback
The Chadha-led exodus marks one of the biggest setbacks for AAP since its formation in 2012. The development has triggered political buzz, especially after the three MPs formally joined the BJP in the presence of party president Nitin Nabin.
Back in Delhi, AAP has begun internal deliberations to assess the fallout and chart its next steps. Senior leader Manish Sisodia met Kejriwal late Friday night after returning from Gujarat, where he had been campaigning for municipal elections.
According to party sources cited by ANI, Sisodia went straight from the airport to Kejriwal’s residence, where the two held a meeting for over half an hour. The discussion focused on the possible impact of the split and the party’s future strategy as it grapples with the sudden political shake-up.
