India, April 27 -- On April 24, seven of 10 Rajya Sabha members, including Raghav Chadha, defected from Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), marking the first major desertion of lawmakers from the party.

The desertion was the latest in a series of setbacks for the party, which political novices founded in 2013 to "uproot corruption from public life". Kejriwal's image of a frugal politician has also taken a beating over allegations of splurge at his official residence when he was the Delhi chief minister. The BJP went to town ahead of the 2025 Delhi election, calling the residence a "Sheesh Mahal" or a luxurious palace of mirrors, and stormed to power in the national capital.

Kejriwal's insistence ...