AAP hit by exit of 7 MPs, faces test ahead of 2027 poll battles
New Delhi (PTI): With Seven MPs, including prominent faces such as Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh and Swati Maliwal, quitting the AAP on Friday, the party has not only lost numerical strength in Parliament but its preparedness for upcoming elections has also been hampered.
The development comes against the backdrop of a turbulent phase for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) over the last two years, when several of its top leaders, including former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia, were arrested in connection with the alleged excise-policy scam, leaving the party grappling with a leadership vacuum and testing its ability to function under pressure.
During that period, the party had sought to project resilience, with second-rung leaders, including Chadha, stepping in to keep both the government and organisation running.
Many among the seven MPs were seen as key pillars in shaping the AAP's outreach -- whether in policy articulation, organisational strategy, finances or public messaging -- making their collective departure more than a routine political shift and more of an organisational rupture.
Their move, meeting the two-thirds threshold under the anti-defection law, showcases both the scale and the severity of the split.
Chadha said on Friday that all seven MPs have merged with the BJP, asserting that the AAP has strayed from its principles, values and core morals. Besides Chadha, Pathak, Mittal, Singh and Maliwal, Rajinder Gupta and Vikram Sawhney have also quit the Kejriwal-led party.
For the AAP, the timing of the seven MPs' exit is particularly crucial. The party is gearing up for next year's electoral battles in Gujarat, Goa and Punjab, where it hopes to consolidate and expand its presence beyond Delhi, where it has formed the government thrice and enjoys a strong base.
AAP leaders have sought to project confidence, maintaining that the party’s grassroots connect and governance plank remain intact despite the departures.
On the ground, the party continues to hold power in Punjab and retains a presence in Delhi, along with a limited reach in Gujarat and Jammu and Kashmir.
In Parliament, however, its reduced strength in the Rajya Sabha -- down from 13 to six now -- could limit its ability to assert itself in legislative debates.
For a party that built its identity on the anti-corruption plank, a collective leadership and a steady stream of new faces rising through the ranks, the current departure revives an old pattern of prominent colleagues parting ways, including former IPS officer Kiran Bedi and poet Kumar Vishwas.
In 2015, former AAP spokesperson Shazia Ilmi quit the party and later, joined the BJP, followed by senior leader Kapil Mishra in 2017 after a bitter public fallout over allegations of corruption within the party. In 2018, founding member Ashish Khetan stepped away from active politics altogether, citing personal reasons. Each of these departures came at a time when the AAP was attempting to stabilise or expand.
With the Gujarat, Goa and Punjab polls on the horizon, the immediate challenge before the Kejriwal-led party is to steady its organisation, rebuild its leadership bench and reassure workers that the political project it launched more than 10 years ago remains intact.
For the AAP, after weathering the arrests of its top leaders and with the exit of influential parliamentarians now, the current situation may well determine whether it can sustain its expansion ambitions or will be forced to consolidate around its existing strongholds.
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K'taka HC Orders Rs 75k monthly support to rape victim, grants conditional stay in case
Bengaluru (PTI): The High Court of Karnataka on Friday directed a petitioner accused of repeated rape on false promise of marriage to pay Rs 75,000 monthly towards the sustenance of the victim and their 10-month-old child, while granting an interim stay on further criminal proceedings against him.
The order was passed by Justice M Nagaprasanna while hearing a writ petition filed by 22-year-old engineering student Srikrishna J Rao, who had sought quashing of proceedings pending against him in a sessions court in Mangaluru under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The bench noted that the petitioner and the victim, aged 22 and 20 respectively, were in a relationship that evolved into intimacy, resulting in the birth of a child. It recorded that the petitioner is the biological father, a fact that is medically substantiated and undisputed.
Taking into account the financial vulnerability of the young mother and her family, Justice Nagaprasanna observed that the woman had been "thrust prematurely into the responsibilities of motherhood" and was now burdened with unforeseen obligations after the petitioner allegedly reneged on his promise of marriage.
Accordingly, an interim order of stay of further proceedings pending before the VI Additional Principal District and Sessions Court, Mangaluru, was "granted qua the petitioner, subject to a crucial condition that the petitioner, either personally or through his parents, the accused in companion petitions, shall provide financial support to the complainant and the child, in the form of a sum of Rs 75,000 per month, to ensure the sustenance and welfare of the mother and the 10 month old baby, until the final disposal of this petition," the order read.
The first instalment is to be paid within one week, on or before May 1, 2026, and subsequent payments are to be made regularly.
The court further emphasised that although the petitioner is a student, such considerations cannot override the pressing needs of the child and the mother, stating that "justice, in its equitable dimension, demands a balanced approach." It also directed the victim, her family, and relatives to refrain from engaging with the media until the matter reaches its judicial conclusion.
The petition has been tagged with connected matters and is scheduled for further hearing on June 5, 2026.
