India, April 24 -- By the time Raghav Chadha walked out of the Constitution Club of India in New Delhi on Friday afternoon - and into the BJP office five kilometres away - the arithmetic for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had changed particularly in Punjab. That's the state it rules currently, and elections are due in less than a year.

AAP boss Arvind Kejriwal's reaction also referenced Punjab, and did not as such name Chadha or the six others who switched to the BJP. Clearly, what happens in Delhi does not stay in Delhi.

Of the AAP's 10 Rajya Sabha MPs, seven have formed a bloc and merged with the BJP, and six of them are from Punjab. They invoked the constitutional two-thirds merger provision that protects them from disqualification.

The ...