‘Toxic work environment, corrupt members’: Raghav Chadha on why he left AAP to join BJP
Raghav Chadha said he became the founding member of a political party and gave it 15 years of his prime youth, but it is no longer the same party anymore.
- Apr 27, 2026,
- Updated Apr 27, 2026 12:24 PM IST
Raghav Chadha left the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and lost a million followers on Instagram – a dramatic turn for an equally dramatic event. Considering Chadha’s earlier vocal critique of the BJP, his choice was obviously questioned.
Chadha, on Monday, posted a video, explaining to his followers why he took the dire step.
“Many have congratulated me on my decision to join BJP but many have questioned me too,” said Raghav Chadha in the video. He said he was a practicing chartered accountant before he decided to step into politics. “I had a flourishing career ahead, but I left that career to join politics. I didn't come into politics to make my career. I became a founding member of a political party,” he said.
Chadha said he became the founding member of a political party and gave it 15 years of his prime youth. “Today, this party is no longer the old party. Today, this party has a toxic work environment. You are stopped from working. You are stopped from speaking in Parliament. Moreover, this party has now been trapped by a few compromised, corrupt members. They don’t work for the country anymore, they work for personal gains,” said Chadha.
He said he began to feel out of place and like the right person in the wrong party. Chadha said he had weighed his options before taking the decision, including leaving politics altogether. Eventually he chose to move out of the party to another.
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"Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six-seven MPs have decided to break their relationship with this political party,” he said, referring to Ashok Kumar Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Kumar Pathak, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Swati Maliwal, and Rajinder Gupta who also quit the party to join BJP. Chadha said one or two people could be wrong, but not seven.
Raghav Chadha said the former AAP members did not “leave out of fear but because of disappointment, disenchantment, and disgust”.
He said he would continue to raise the problems of the common man with as much passion as he did when he was with AAP.
Raghav Chadha left the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to join Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and lost a million followers on Instagram – a dramatic turn for an equally dramatic event. Considering Chadha’s earlier vocal critique of the BJP, his choice was obviously questioned.
Chadha, on Monday, posted a video, explaining to his followers why he took the dire step.
“Many have congratulated me on my decision to join BJP but many have questioned me too,” said Raghav Chadha in the video. He said he was a practicing chartered accountant before he decided to step into politics. “I had a flourishing career ahead, but I left that career to join politics. I didn't come into politics to make my career. I became a founding member of a political party,” he said.
Chadha said he became the founding member of a political party and gave it 15 years of his prime youth. “Today, this party is no longer the old party. Today, this party has a toxic work environment. You are stopped from working. You are stopped from speaking in Parliament. Moreover, this party has now been trapped by a few compromised, corrupt members. They don’t work for the country anymore, they work for personal gains,” said Chadha.
He said he began to feel out of place and like the right person in the wrong party. Chadha said he had weighed his options before taking the decision, including leaving politics altogether. Eventually he chose to move out of the party to another.
DON'T MISS | Kejriwal's last offer failed: How AAP lost Raghav Chadha, 6 other MPs in a day
"Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six-seven MPs have decided to break their relationship with this political party,” he said, referring to Ashok Kumar Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Kumar Pathak, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, Swati Maliwal, and Rajinder Gupta who also quit the party to join BJP. Chadha said one or two people could be wrong, but not seven.
Raghav Chadha said the former AAP members did not “leave out of fear but because of disappointment, disenchantment, and disgust”.
He said he would continue to raise the problems of the common man with as much passion as he did when he was with AAP.