In a setback to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha members, amounting to two-thirds of its strength in the Upper House, joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on April 24. AAP MP Raghav Chadha, who was removed as the party’s deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha three weeks ago, announced that he and six other party members had decided to “merge with the BJP”. Prior to this development, the AAP had 10 members in the Rajya Sabha, with seven from Punjab and three from Delhi. Following the merger of this faction, the party is left with only three members in the House.

The anti-defection law, enshrined in the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution by the 52nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1985, seeks to curb rampant floor-crossing by elected representatives in Parliament and State legislatures. Its enactment was deemed necessary owing to the large-scale defections in the 1960s and 1970s, when frequent shifts in party allegiance led to the collapse of several State governments.