7 AAP Rajya Sabha MPs Officially Merge with BJP; NDA Crosses 140 Mark
Seven Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MPs, led by Raghav Chadha, officially merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party after Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan accepted their merger petition on April 27, 2026. The BJP's Rajya Sabha strength rises to 113 while the NDA's combined tally crosses 140. AAP's strength in the Upper House has been reduced to just 3 members. The merger has triggered a debate over the Tenth Schedule (Anti-Defection Law).
Key Facts & Details
10 points- 17 AAP RS MPs — Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal and others — merged with BJP
- 2Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan accepted the merger petition
- 3BJP's Rajya Sabha strength rises to 113; NDA crosses 140
- 4AAP's Upper House strength reduced to 3 members
- 5Anti-Defection Law (Tenth Schedule) does not apply when 2/3rd of a party's legislative members merge
- 6AAP filed a petition for disqualification of the defecting MPs
Deep Dive
- +The Tenth Schedule allows merger without disqualification if at least 2/3rd of the party's members in that House join
- +AAP originally had 10 Rajya Sabha seats; with 7 defecting, the 2/3rd threshold is exactly met
- +This significantly alters the legislative arithmetic in the Upper House
- +Raghav Chadha cited 'toxic work environment' as reason for leaving AAP
Exam Focus
Likely MCQ: Under the Tenth Schedule, how many members of a legislature party must merge for it to be valid without inviting disqualification? Answer: At least two-thirds
Related Topics
Exam Relevance & Angle
Polity & Governance: Anti-defection law, Tenth Schedule, and Rajya Sabha composition are high-frequency topics for UPSC, SSC, and Banking exams.
Target Exams
Background & Context
The Tenth Schedule of the Indian Constitution, added by the 52nd Amendment Act 1985, governs disqualification of legislators on grounds of defection. A merger is valid if at least two-thirds of the party's members in a House join another party.
The Rajya Sabha has 245 seats in total. The ruling NDA alliance crossing 140 gives it greater legislative leverage in the Upper House, which had previously been a significant check on the government's legislative agenda.
Related GK Concepts
Must KnowTest Yourself
1 / 3What is the minimum fraction of a legislative party's members that must merge for it to be valid under the Tenth Schedule?
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