Rajya Sabha MP Vikram Sahni, one of the seven leaders to quit the Aam Aadmi Party, revealed that I met AAP’s national convener Arvind Kejriwal days before the merger with the BJP.
In an interview with NDTV, industrialist and philanthropist Sahni said: “I met Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday. I told him about our plans…” Sahni said he warned Kejriwal that the departure of “one and two MLAs” would eventually lead to the two-thirds threshold – the mark required to avoid disqualification under the anti-defection law.
“I told him, even if two MPs quit (from the Rajya Sabha), the two-thirds figure will be achieved with only five (additional) MPs.” NDTV quoted Sahni as saying. The Rajya Sabha MP further said that Kejriwal was not convinced by Sandeep Pathak’s resignation. Kejriwal and others in AAP are yet to react to Sahni’s claims about the meeting and conversation.
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Apart from Sahni, six other MPs – Raghav Chadha, Rajinder Gupta, Sandeep Pathak, Swati Maliwal and Harbhajan Singh – left the APC and merged with the BJP.
Reacting to the exits, RJD leaders described the MPs as “traitors (wall)” and further said that they had “betrayed” the people of Punjab. After announcing his decision, Chadha said he felt like “the right man in the wrong party,” adding that the MPs left because they “did not want to be part of their crime.”
Sahni talks about why dissatisfaction has been growing over the past two years
On Saturday, Sahni had told news agency PTI that both Chadha and Pathak had become “frustrated” as they had been “sidelined” for the past two years.
“In the 2022 Punjab elections, where the party got a very historic mandate, Sandeep Pathak and Raghav Chadha played a key role in ticket distribution, candidate selection and overall strategy. But when they were sidelined, they got frustrated,” he said.
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Sahni added that “a new team took over,” specifically after the loss in the 2025 Delhi Assembly elections.
The Rajya Sabha MP said the removal of Raghav Chadha as the party’s deputy leader in the Senate had “exacerbated” the situation.
“Somewhere, the marginalization and neglect of these two key leaders led to growing frustration, which eventually spread. They talked to other MPs like us, and it became clear that there was discontent among everyone. We felt that we were not able to serve Punjab the way we should be served,” Sahni said.
Responding to the charge of “treason” leveled by AAP leaders, Sahni said the MPs “will continue to serve” the people of Punjab. “None of us betrayed Punjab or the people of Punjab. Anyone can say whatever they want, but we have always served, and we will continue to serve,” he said.
He added that Punjab “needs strong central support” and said MPs were “ready even to resign” if necessary.
“As far as due process is concerned, which is part of democracy, the cases will go to the Vice President, the President, or the Supreme Court. As I understand it, there are rules like two-thirds clause and merger provisions. For us, serving Punjab comes first,” Sahni asserted.
