Rajya Sabha MPs Raghav Chadha, front right, Sandeep Pathak, left, and others leave after a meeting with BJP National President Nitin Nabin at the party’s headquarters, in New Delhi, on April 24, 2026. | Photo Credit: PTI Parliament designed ‘merger’ as a defence against the misuse of anti-defection law to stifle intra-party dissent and freedom of expression of legislators. Rajya Sabha Member Raghav Chadha and six other former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MPs have claimed it as a cover to join the BJP. Paragraph 2(1)(a) of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution stipulates that members belonging to ‘any political party’ will be disqualified from the House for defection if they voluntarily give up membership of the party. The explanation to Paragraph 2 provides that a legislator is deemed to belong to the political party that set him up as a candidate for election. Published – April 25, 2026 09:25 pm IST Share this: Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Click to share on Threads (Opens in new window) Threads Click to share on X (Opens in new window) X Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window) Telegram Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window) Pinterest Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) Email More Click to print (Opens in new window) Print Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window) Tumblr Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window) Pocket Click to share on Mastodon (Opens in new window) Mastodon Click to share on Nextdoor (Opens in new window) Nextdoor Click to share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky Like this:Like Loading... Post navigation Power outages add to Kochi’s summer woes Palayamkottai Assembly segment registers district’s lowest turnout once again