National, April 27: The strength of the Bharatiya Janata Party in the Rajya Sabha has increased to 113 following the approval of a merger involving seven Members of Parliament who resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party. The decision was cleared by Rajya Sabha Chairman C. P. Radhakrishnan.
The development marks a setback for the AAP, which has now been reduced to three members in the Upper House after losing two-thirds of its strength.
Among those who switched sides are Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal, who resigned from the party and joined the BJP in the presence of senior leadership. Other MPs who moved to the BJP include Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Swati Maliwal.
The merger was challenged through a petition questioning its validity under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, which governs anti-defection provisions. The plea sought disqualification of the MPs under Paragraph 2(1)(a), which deals with voluntary resignation from a political party.
However, Paragraph 4 of the Tenth Schedule provides an exception in cases of merger, subject to certain conditions. The petitioner argued that these conditions had not been met, raising concerns over the legality of the transition.
Despite the challenge, the Chairman approved the merger, thereby protecting the members from disqualification proceedings under anti-defection laws.
The development has altered the balance of strength in the Rajya Sabha and is expected to influence legislative dynamics in the Upper House.
