What the exodus means for AAP & BJP in Punjab
He said the party continues to be strong in Punjab and, in fact, it was better that those who did not have the welfare of Punjab in mind had gone. “We are all workers of the party and will remain loyal to Arvind Kejriwal. We never entered the party to do politics but to bring about a revolution. We are not here to make political careers,” said Mann.
“BJP has always done politics by trying to destabilise other parties in the Opposition to keep its own position secure. This is exactly what they tried to do here as well, especially when they know that our government is going very strong and we will come back to power,” said the CM.
But despite the brave face put on by the chief minister, the fracture in the party will take its toll. To begin with, the loss of face suffered by Arvind Kejriwal with the exit of AAP’s high-profile leaders—especially someone like Raghav Chadha, once projected as a prominent Punjab face—cements the impression that Kejriwal’s style of functioning is not just extremely centralised but he also does not tolerate any dissent. His moral position in Punjab has weakened further.
Also read: ‘Ghayal hoon isliye ghatak hoon’—Raghav Chadha borrows from Dhurandhar to rip into AAP’s ‘white lies’
‘Ammunition for the BJP’
Kejriwal is central to the Opposition’s criticism of the party in the state. More often than not, the attack by the Opposition revolves around Kejriwal being the super chief minister of Punjab and running the show behind the scenes. “Now with his chosen ones and favourites leaving the party on his watch, they (the Opposition) have the ammunition they were waiting for on the eve of elections,” said Manjit Singh, formerly with the department of Sociology, Panjab University, Chandigarh.
He added that political parties in Punjab depend heavily on local networks and morale and such defections signal that the central leadership may not be stable and upward mobility within AAP is uncertain. “This can trigger secondary defections or passive disengagement— maybe not immediate exits, but erosion,” said Manjit Singh.
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring is already hinting at the possibility. He told ANI Friday that AAP should be cautious.
“It should not happen that one day even 50 of your MLAs switch sides. These MPs have moved after reaching Parliament, this was always a possibility when the party makes decisions in this manner, without clear criteria. When they were nominated to the Rajya Sabha, such an outcome was always likely,” he said.
“When there is no strong ideology, and people are chosen based on wealth, business background, or influence, and then support is sought from them in various ways, such situations are bound to rise. I am concerned that, in a similar manner, MLAs may also leave. Some may act out of fear, others due to dissatisfaction with the party. The fact is, many of them were never connected to any ideology in the first place,” he added.
VIDEO | As Raghav Chadha and six other AAP MPs join the Bharatiya Janata Party, Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring says, “I want to say that the Aam Aadmi Party should remain cautious. It should not happen that one day even 50 of your MLAs switch sides. These MPs… pic.twitter.com/Y636Yqseg3
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 24, 2026
Experts also see the chief minister’s move to immediately introduce the narrative that BJP is destabilising Punjab’s mandate as a counter to the BJP’s expected refrain that AAP leaders are losing faith in their party.
BJP’s state head Sunil Jakhar wrote on X: “A warm welcome to all the Members of Parliament who, at the right time, chose to leave the sinking ship of AAP and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. Due to AAP’s poor governance, corruption, and lack of law and order, the people of Punjab have already lost faith in the party. At the same time, after the party abandoned public interest, even well-meaning individuals within it are being compelled to leave.”
ਆਪ ਦੇ ਡੁੱਬਦੇ ਜਹਾਜ਼ ਨੂੰ ਸਮਾਂ ਰਹਿੰਦੇ ਛੱਡ ਕੇ ਭਾਰਤੀ ਜਨਤਾ ਪਾਰਟੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਆਏ ਸਾਰੇ ਹੀ ਸਾਂਸਦਾਂ ਨੂੰ ਨਿੱਘੀ ਜੀ ਆਇਆਂ ਨੂੰ। ਆਪ ਦੇ ਮਾੜੇ ਸ਼ਾਸਨ, ਭ੍ਰਿਸ਼ਟਾਚਾਰ, ਬੇਅਮਨੀ ਕਾਰਨ ਜਿੱਥੇ ਪੰਜਾਬ ਦੇ ਲੋਕਾਂ ਦਾ ਇਸ ਪਾਰਟੀ ਤੋਂ ਮੋਹ ਭੰਗ ਹੋ ਚੁੱਕਾ ਹੈ ਉੱਥੇ ਹੀ ਪਾਰਟੀ ਵੱਲੋ ਲੋਕ ਹਿੱਤਾਂ ਦਾ ਤਿਆਗ ਕਰ ਦੇਣ ਤੋਂ ਬਾਅਦ ਇਸ ਪਾਰਟੀ ਦੇ ਅੰਦਰ…
— Sunil Jakhar (@sunilkjakhar) April 24, 2026
“Historically, Punjab voters are sensitive to betrayal narratives, but they are equally quick to punish parties seen as unstable. Which narrative sticks will be decisive,” added Manjit Singh.
Experts believe that the working of the ruling party will now be judged more harshly than before because political instability reduces tolerance for administrative shortcomings.
Former bureaucrat and political commentator K. B. S. Sidhu wrote on his Substack handle Friday: “Retaining power in Punjab in February 2027 was already a challenge for AAP. The anti-incumbency arithmetic that swept it to a historic majority in 2022 cuts both ways: The higher the crest, the steeper the possible correction. Governance delivery has been uneven; the drug crisis remains unresolved; the fiscal position is strained.”
He added: “AAP goes into the election year having lost, in a single morning, seven of its ten Rajya Sabha MPs, its most articulate parliamentary voice, its most experienced Punjab political strategist, and a tranche of financial and institutional muscle it cannot easily replace. The battle for retaining Punjab has become more than incrementally difficult. It has become, for the first time, genuinely uphill.”
Professor Harjeshwar Singh of the department of history, Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26, Chandigarh told ThePrint that the move has made a mockery of the people’s verdict.
“The brazenness of BJP is there for all to see. They have used every tactic including central agencies to affect whole scale defection of AAP MPs,” he said. “It has also exposed the soft underbelly of ideology-less and rootless parties like AAP which devised a model of sending moneybags and outsiders into Rajya Sabha, making a mockery of the constitutional significance of the Rajya Sabha,” he added.
What will be BJP’s Punjab strategy now
From the BJP’s point of view, the move also could fundamentally reshape its political strategy in the state, especially since the move comes within days of the party making it clear that it will go solo in the Assembly elections, ruling out any partnership whatsoever with the Akali Dal.
“It is a strategic breakthrough, not an immediate victory. It gives the party (BJP) a foothold and narrative advantage, but translating that into votes will require sustained groundwork. None of these leaders who have shifted to the BJP bring with them any mass base. The possibility of any one of them—barring maybe Chadha—winning an election if given a ticket is almost nil. This point is just being made to spite AAP at the national level rather than strengthening its position in Punjab,” said Dr Kanwalpreet Kaur of the department of political science, DAV College Sector 10, Chandigarh.
“Those who have left are not real mass leaders. They cannot win elections. They did not represent a constituency from where they were elected. They can go around now asking for Punjab but they will not be allowed to even enter villages,” Mann pointed out during the press conference.
Sidhu however argued that BJP has gained genuine political weight. “Raghav Chadha brings media fluency and the ability to dominate the constitutional and governance discourse in ways that the BJP’s Punjab unit has conspicuously lacked. Sandeep Pathak brings something rarer still: Hands-on knowledge of AAP’s own organisational architecture in Punjab, its cadre networks, its pressure points, and its vulnerabilities. He is, in the most precise sense, a man who knows where the bodies are buried,” Sidhu said.
“Add to this the financial dimension. Ashok Mittal’s Lovely Professional University network, Rajinder Gupta’s industrial standing, and Vikramjit Singh Sahney’s business connections collectively bring to the BJP’s Punjab apparatus a depth of local financial resources that supplement whatever the central party machinery can deploy. Elections in Punjab are not won on ideas alone; they are won on organisation, outreach, and resources sustained over months at the ground level. The privy purses, so to speak, have changed hands,” added Sidhu.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)
Also read: Body blow to AAP as Raghav Chadha, 6 others quit to join BJP. And ‘there are others’
