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 vested interest-driven moves are “not right”.
Speaking to news agency ANI, Hazare said, “Leaving one party and joining another party is not right… Changing political parties to meet our selfish needs is not the right thing. This is not mentioned in our constitution. Our constitution is supreme. Our country works on the basis of the constitution.” path Live updates of Raghav Chadha BJP merger.
Hazare, who was the face of the 2011 anti-corruption movement that eventually led to the formation of AAP. Although he later distanced himself from the party and its advocates Arvind Kejriwal.
At the same time, he noted that internal issues within the AAP may have contributed to the exits. “It is their (AAP leadership) fault. If this party had followed the right path, they would not have left it,” news agency PTI quoted Hazare as saying earlier.
“Everyone has the right to have an opinion in a democratic system. They (Chadha and others) must have faced some problems, and that’s 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 the AAP at a joint press conference in Delhi and joining the BJP.
Chaddha claimed that nearly two-thirds of seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs have resigned and will function as a separate faction. He added that he and six other lawmakers had formally informed the Speaker of the House of Representatives of their decision, in accordance with the rules, effectively signaling a split in the party’s Senate ranks.
Hazare reiterated that such departures indicate deeper issues within the party. “If the party had gone in the right direction, they would not have left the party,” he said, adding: “There must be some reason or the other (for them leaving AAP). In a democracy, everyone has a view on where to stay and where to leave.”
AAP gears up for strategy after setback
The Chadha-led exodus represents one of the biggest setbacks to the association since its formation in 2012. The development has created a political uproar, especially after the three MPs officially joined the BJP in the presence of party president Nitin Nabin.
Back in Delhi, AAP began internal deliberations to assess the ramifications and chart its next steps. Senior leader Manish Sisodia met Kejriwal late on Friday night after his return from Gujarat, where he was campaigning for the 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 potential impact of the split and the party’s future strategy as it grapples with sudden political change.
