Will check credibility 100 times: Kejriwal on Raghav Chadha, other MPs defection
Calling the episode "extremely unfortunate", Kejriwal acknowledged that it was a lesson for AAP and said the party would exercise greater caution while choosing its Rajya Sabha candidates.
Aam Aadmi Party chief Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday described the defection of Raghav Chadha and six other Rajya Sabha MPs to the BJP as a betrayal and said the party would scrutinise future nominees more carefully.
“From now on, before sending anyone to the Rajya Sabha, we will check a hundred times whether the person is trustworthy,” Kejriwal said at a party event in Goa, speaking about the defections for the first time.
“They were sent to the Rajya Sabha by AAP, not elected by the people. They betrayed the party; AAP did not betray anyone,” he added.
Calling the episode “extremely unfortunate”, Kejriwal acknowledged that it was a lesson for AAP and said the party would exercise greater caution while choosing its Rajya Sabha candidates.
Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sahney quit AAP and joined the BJP in April, leaving the party with only three Rajya Sabha MPs.
The seven defectors constituted more than two-thirds of AAP’s 10-member legislative party in the Upper House, protecting them from disqualification under the anti-defection law.
Chadha’s move had been anticipated after AAP removed him as its deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha earlier that month. The decision by six other MPs to join him, however, dealt a major blow to the party’s strength in Parliament.