Mumbai, April 27 -- The Rajya Sabha Secretariat has accepted the request of seven Aam Aadmi Party MPs, including Raghav Chadha, to merge with the Bharatiya Janata Party, marking a significant shift in the Upper House.

Following the merger, the BJP's strength has risen to 113, while the National Democratic Alliance has crossed the 140 mark in the Rajya Sabha, which has an effective strength of 244. AAP's strength has fallen from 10 to three members.

The MPs involved include Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, Vikramjit Singh Sahney and Rajinder Gupta. The group had petitioned Chairman C. P. Radhakrishnan to recognise them as BJP members, which has now been accepted.

The MPs have argued that their move meets the...