Chandigarh, April 25 -- Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday launched a blistering attack on Raghav Chadha and six other Rajya Sabha members who resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh, Mann termed the defectors "traitors of Punjab" and asserted that their departure would have no impact on the party's strength or its commitment to the people.

Targeting the BJP, he said: "When they did not find anything against Bhagwant Mann, they tried to break the AAP."

Earlier, addressing a joint press conference in Delhi, AAP Rajya Sabha members Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal said they were joining the BJP. Chadha said nearly two-thirds of ...