AAP's Raghav Chadha and 6 other Rajya Sabha MPs quit the party and joined the BJP, citing the party's failure to work for the nation. An AAP insider revealed that the party's decision to give too much power to Chadha and ignoring Sandeep Pathak led to their exit.
Pathak, who was the national general secretary (organisation) and the brain behind expanding the party nationally, gave the biggest shock to AAP. His exit means that the BJP has an insider who is well aware of AAP's strategy, key persons, and civil society contacts.
AAP's chief spokesperson, Malwinder Singh Kang, said that the party must have kept Chadha 'in check' and maintained dialogue with Pathak. He accused the BJP of 'breaking' political parties using any trick possible, saying 'they did the same here. They conducted 'Operation Lotus.'
The exit of Pathak and Chadha weakens the party's second line at a time when it is struggling to mount a comeback in the national capital. Chadha said, 'Main unke gunaah me shaamil nahi hona chahta tha (I didn't want to be apart of their sins)'. He also detailed the reasons for keeping a distance with the party activities, which finally ended with a rift.
