Chandigarh/Delhi: There is a tremendous earthquake in the politics of Punjab these days. Raghav Chadha, once considered the ‘Chanakya’ of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the most trusted commander of Arvind Kejriwal, has now declared a direct war against his own old party and the government of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. After joining the BJP along with seven MPs on April 24, Chadha now seems to be in a see-through mood.
It is reported that Raghav Chadha has directly knocked on the door of the country’s President Draupadi Murmu. According to sources, Rashtrapati Bhavan gave him May 5 at 10:40 am Appointment has been given. Along with Chadha, three other MPs who have recently left AAP and joined BJP will also be present in this meeting. According to experts, this meeting is not just a courtesy call, but could be the beginning of the ‘countdown’ for the honorable government of Punjab.
The agenda of this high-profile meeting is said to be quite serious. Raghav Chadha and his fellow MPs directly allege that the Bhagwant Mann government of Punjab has resorted to ‘revenge politics’. He claims that the leaders who have chosen to support BJP after listening to their conscience, are being intimidated and threatened by the government machinery and the police. These MPs will hand over to the President the file on the deteriorating law and order situation in Punjab and the incidents of government repression, which have increased rapidly in the last few days. The MPs demand that the President immediately intervene in this matter so that this game of crushing political opponents can be stopped.
This entire political drama started on 24 April 2026, when seven Rajya Sabha MPs including Raghav Chadha left Arvind Kejriwal and decided to merge with BJP. The surprising thing is that six of these MPs were from Punjab alone. Big names like Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, Vikramjit Singh Sahni, Ashok Mittal and Rajinder Gupta were involved in this rebellion. Chadha argues that AAP has deviated from its principles. Since the number of rebel MPs was two-thirds of the total MPs, technically their merger with BJP was considered valid.
Punjab government’s ‘action’ against rebel MPs is now visible on the streets. Punjab Police has registered two FIRs against Sandeep Pathak, who was once the leader of the organization. The situation became such that the police reached his residence in Delhi to arrest him, although Pathak was not found there. At the same time, the security of former cricketer Harbhajan Singh has been withdrawn and the company of MP Rajinder Gupta has been raided by the Pollution Board. Raghav Chadha is calling all these incidents as the biggest example of ‘political vendetta’.
This meeting of the President and Raghav Chadha can prove to be an alarm bell for Bhagwant Mann. If Chadha is successful in convincing the President that the constitutional machinery is failing in the state, then the Central Government may take strict action. On the other hand, Aam Aadmi Party has opened a front to cancel the membership of these MPs by terming them as ‘traitors’. Now everyone’s eyes are fixed on the morning of 5th May, when Raghav Chadha will reach Rashtrapati Bhavan. This meeting will decide which direction the politics of Punjab will take.
