7 ex-AAP MPs formally join BJP; NDA strength in Rajya Sabha climbs to 148, AAP down to 3 | India News

NEW DELHI: Seven rebel Rajya Sabha parliamentarians from the Aam Aadmi Party were officially inducted into the Bharatiya Janata Party, as the Rajya Sabha Secretariat updated party positions in the Upper House.This comes days after Raghav Chadha, along with six MPs, left AAP and decided to merge with the BJP after being removed from the post of deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha last month.“We have decided that we, two-thirds of members belonging to the AAP in the Rajya Sabha, will exercise the provisions of the Constitution of India and merge with the BJP,” Raghav Chadha said at a press conference.The BJP had 106 members, and the NDA had 141 (including seven nominated members). These totals have now risen to 113 and 148, respectively. By year-end, with over 30 seats falling vacant, the BJP expects to gain at least five more seats, inching closer to the two-thirds majority mark of 163.Why anti-defection law won’t apply to AAP MPsDespite the Tenth Schedule, the anti-defection law will not apply to AAP MPs, as it allows two-thirds of a legislature party to break away and merge with another party.The law states: “A member of a House shall not be disqualified under the Tenth Schedule if his original political party merges with another political party and he claims that he and any other members of his original political party have become members of such other political party or, as the case may be, of a new political party formed by such merger.”If the number were any less, those seeking to merge would have to give up their Upper House membership.Hence, if Chadha had quit alone, he would have had to give up his Rajya Sabha membership. But that is not the case as the outgoing AAP leader is joined by Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahney.