India, April 25 -- Two words have dominated Punjab's political conversation since Friday, when seven Aam Aadmi Party Rajya Sabha MPs announced they were leaving the party to merge with the BJP. One is 'gaddar' - the Arabic-origin Hindi/Urdu/Punjabi word for traitor. The other is the Persian-origin 'baahri', for 'outsider'.

Both words have history beyond their etymology too, and both are being deployed by multiple political sides at once, after Raghav Chadha caused the latest rupture in the party currently ruling Punjab.

On Saturday, AAP workers spray-painted 'gaddar' - though they used varied spellings - on the outer walls and main gate of ex-cricketer Harbhajan Singh's residence in Jalandhar; on the walls outside AAP's ex-strategist Sa...