3 min readNew DelhiApr 25, 2026 05:00 AM IST First published on: Apr 25, 2026 at 05:00 AM ISTStunned by the exit of seven of their 10 Rajya Sabha members, Aam Aadmi Party insiders said Friday they were aware of a storm brewing over the last “week to ten days” following the party decision to remove Raghav Chadha, one of its most visible faces, as the party deputy leader in the House, literally showing him the door.According to party insiders, AAP national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak, a close aide of party chief Arvind Kejriwal, had called on the former Delhi Chief Minister at the latter’s residence in the Capital when he was in town during the special session of Parliament last week.AdvertisementWhile details related to Pathak’s meeting with his former mentor remained unclear, sources said he was likely to have conveyed that he no longer enjoyed as much support from the party’s organisational ranks in Punjab where he is said to have played a significant role in having built the AAP from the ground up.Also Read | In major setback to AAP, seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs cross over to BJP“We were more than aware of some trouble brewing over the past week to ten days; party workers were aware of several meetings between both Raghav (Chadha) and Swati (Maliwal) with senior BJP leaders,” a party source claimed.That something was afoot, insiders said, became clearer following the Enforcement Directorate searches at Rajya Sabha member Ashok Mittal’s residence, chancellor of the Lovely Professional University in Punjab, as well as on those linked to AAP’s Punjab minister Sanjeev Arora.Advertisement“That something was likely to occur today is proven by the fact that the party addressed a press conference on the possibility earlier Friday morning. The ED raids on AAP leaders, according to our workers in Punjab, were done on instructions,” the source said, adding that the party’s main priority at the moment was keeping its flock of 22 legislators in Delhi intact.Also Read | Will AAP Rajya Sabha MPs face disqualification after joining BJP? Explained“Just look at the MPs who have broken ranks – they are mostly businessmen… Several of those who broke ranks today had been trying to get as many AAP leaders, especially from Punjab, to go with them for the 2027 Punjab elections,” an AAP leader said.On April 15, the Enforcement Directorate conducted searches at premises linked to Mittal as part of an investigation under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA).Also Read | Vikramjit Singh Sahney: Businessman-philanthropist, a known Modi supporter who never aligned with AAPAccording to officials, the agency’s headquarters investigation unit in Delhi carried out coordinated searches across 10 locations in Jalandhar and Gurugram, including facilities associated with TETR College of Business and Masters’ Union School of Business, which are part of the broader Lovely Group. Mittal’s premises were among those covered, with the ED indicating that the action formed part of a wider probe into entities linked to the group.For the AAP, in addition to keeping its organisation intact in Delhi, the priority now is to identify more leaders to replace the seven who have left, insiders said.