India, April 26 -- The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has sought the removal of seven of its MPs who merged with the BJP from the Rajya Sabha, citing disqualification on grounds of defection. Seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs - Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Vikramjit Sahney, Swati Maliwal, Harbhajan Singh and Rajinder Gupta - exited the party on Friday.

Chadha announced the decision in a press conference, saying they had two-thirds of the total number of AAP MPs in the Rajya Sabha, a mark needed to avoid disqualification from the House. The party had 10 MPs in the Upper House, of which seven "merged" with the BJP.

"According to the Constitution, two-thirds of the total MPs of a party can merge with another party," Chadha had said.

AAP MP Sanjay Singh,...