3 min readUpdated: Apr 24, 2026 04:38 PM IST
Minutes after AAP’s MP Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, and 4 other quit the AAP, party leader Sanjay Singh said Punjab will “never forget these traitors who stabbed the people in the back”. Sanjay Singh further attacked the BJP, saying the party was conducting “Operation Lotus under the leadership of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and PM Narendra Modi” ahead of the Punjab elections to break the AAP.
The AAP rebels’ move comes at a time when the AAP is gearing up for the Punjab elections, slated for next year.
Reacting to the development, AAP national convener and former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said: “The BJP has once again given Punjabis a shove.”
बीजेपी ने फिर से पंजाबियों के साथ किया धक्का
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 24, 2026
Singh alleged the 7 rebels, including Rajya Sabha MPs Harbhajan Singh and Swati Maliwal, were joining a party (the BJP) that had given rise to organised corruption.
He said: “Operation Lotus is being executed on the Punjab Government…ED, CBI is being used to execute this Operation Lotus…The people of Punjab will never forget these ‘traitors’…”
#WATCH | Delhi | AAP MP Sanjay Singh says, “Operation Lotus is being executed on the Punjab Government…ED, CBI is being used to execute this Operation Lotus…The people of Punjab will never forget these ‘traitors’…” pic.twitter.com/VXKN4hPbmk
— ANI (@ANI) April 24, 2026
Accusing the BJP of pursuing “cheap game of politics”, Singh claimed the BJP has always obstructed the development works of CM Bhagwant Mann in Punjab and now, these 7 MPs were joining the BJP. “The people of Punjab should remember these 7 names. The people of Punjab will never forget them.”
Singh further said: “Operation Lotus is being executed. ED, CBI is used to execute this. Just days back, Ashok Mittal’s premises were raided. This means fear is being used,” he said.
AAP वरिष्ठ नेता एवं राज्यसभा सांसद @SanjayAzadSln और AAP नेशनल मीडिया प्रभारी @anuragdhanda की महत्वपूर्ण प्रेसवार्ता | LIVE https://t.co/XNbUh6EZDh
— AAP (@AamAadmiParty) April 24, 2026
“Those who passed the three farm laws against the farmers of Punjab, by joining that party, will you fight for honesty and truth? …I want to say that Raghav Chadha had said he joined you in the fight against corruption, but today the leadership of that party is accused of corruption worth lakhs of crores, from electoral bonds to other issues,” Singh said.
Raghav Chadha’s walkout with 6 other MPs
Minutes earlier, during a press conference, Chadha said: “The real reason why I distanced myself from party activities is that I did not want to be a part of their crimes. I was not eligible for their friendship because I was not a part of their crime. We had just two options – quit politics and give up our work in the last 15-16 years, or do positive politics with our energy and experience. We have decided that we, 2/3rd members belonging to the AAP in Rajya Sabha, exercise the provisions of the Constitution of India and merge ourselves with the BJP.”
