New Delhi, Apr 27: Seven rebel Rajya Sabha parliamentarians from the Aam Aadmi Party were officially inducted into the Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday, as the Rajya Sabha Secretariat updated party positions in the Upper House.

The Rajya Sabha released a fresh list of party positions after seven members defected from the AAP and announced their merger with the BJP.

This change increased the BJP's representation in the House from 107 to 113 members, while that of AAP has decreased to three.

The defectors -- Raghav Chadha, Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Rajinder Gupta, and Vikram Sahni -- revealed their decision to leave AAP last week and join the BJP.

“We have decided that we, two-thirds of members belonging to the AAP in the Rajya Sabha, will exercise the provisions of the Constitution of India and merge with the BJP,” Raghav Chadha had said at a press conference.

The BJP had 106 members, and the NDA had 141 (including seven nominated members). These totals have now risen to 113 and 148, respectively. By year-end, with over 30 seats falling vacant, the BJP expects to gain at least five more seats, inching closer to the two-thirds majority mark of 163.

Now, according to the updated list, the Congress has 29 members, while the Trinamool Congress holds 13 seats. The DMK has 8 members, followed by the YSR Congress Party with 7. The Biju Janata Dal has 6 members, and the AIADMK has 5. The Janata Dal (United), Samajwadi Party and Nationalist Congress Party have 4 members each.

Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju welcomed the merger of seven Rajya Sabha members, who defected from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), praising them for "never resorting to abusive language" or creating "indiscipline" in the House.

Taking to X, Rijiju said, "Hon'ble Chairman Rajya Sabha Shri CP Radhakrishnan Ji has accepted the merger of 7 AAP MPs with BJP. Now, Raghav Chadha ji, Sandeep Pathak ji, Ashok Mittal ji, Harbhajan Singh ji, Swati Maliwal ji, Rajinder Gupta ji and Vikramjit Singh Sahney ji are Members of the BJP Parliamentary Party."

Honb'le Chairman Rajya Sabha Shri C.P. Radhakrishnan Ji has accepted the merger of 7 AAP MPs with BJP. Now, Raghav Chadha ji, Sandeep Pathak ji, Ashok Mittal ji, Harbhajan Singh ji, Swati Maliwal ji, Rajinder Gupta ji & Vikramjit Singh Sahney ji are Members of BJP Parliamentary…

— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) April 27, 2026

Praising their conduct in the Parliament, the Minister said, "For a long time I've observed that these 7 Hon'ble MPs have not resorted to abusive language and never created any indiscipline and unparliamentary conduct."

Welcoming them to the BJP, he said, "Welcome to nation building NDA under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and goodbye to Tukde-Tukde INDI Alliance."

This move strengthened the BJP's presence in the Upper House of Parliament. Now, only three members of AAP -- Sanjay Singh, Narain Dass Gupta and Sant Balbir Singh -- represent the party in the Rajya Sabha.

The group that defected represented a two-thirds majority of AAP's Rajya Sabha members.

Also Read: Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak Join BJP In Presence Of Party Chief Nitin Nabin

According to the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, added by the 52nd Amendment in 1985, members cannot defect; however, there is an exception for "mergers."

If two-thirds of a party's elected members agree to merge with another party, they are not disqualified, nor are the members who choose to remain in the original party. Chadha and the six others cited this rule to validate their merger.

(IANS)