Chadha's BJP Defection: An Anti-Defection Irony Unfolds

Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha, along with six other Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) members, recently defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), triggering significant political debate. This collective move was strategically executed to satisfy the two-thirds threshold mandated by the anti-defection law (Tenth Schedule of the Constitution), thereby avoiding disqualification. Ironically, Chadha himself introduced a Private Member's Bill in 2022 advocating for stricter anti-defection norms. His proposal aimed to increase the permissible defection threshold from two-thirds to three-fourths of a party's legislative strength, which would have made his current move, requiring seven MPs, more challenging. Chadha justified his departure by citing a "toxic work environment" within the AAP.