3 min readApr 29, 2026 06:05 AM IST First published on: Apr 29, 2026 at 06:05 AM ISTThe defection of seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs to the BJP — including Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Swati Maliwal — is part of three intertwined stories. The first is the meteoric rise and steady decline of the AAP itself, marked by successes but also by a steady erosion of the idealism it projected when it dramatically broke through the high entry barriers of the polity to become a viable party. Soon after it made its political debut in 2013, the party began to shed prominent members. Among other things, these departures pointed to the extreme centralisation of power within the AAP, and the weakness of its organisational structures and processes. But they did not seem to affect its electoral prospects in Delhi till the 2025 assembly election — it managed to build the “Delhi model”, showcasing successes in education and health. In Punjab, however, where acrimony with the Centre and its L-G is not a factor, as it was in Delhi, it has failed so far to showcase a new governance.The AAP’s fall also takes place in a fraught context. Its slide speaks of its bruising battle with the Centre’s ruling party. Since 2014, the BJP has been politically dominant and it seeks to subdue and conquer all spaces. Investigative agencies like the Enforcement Directorate are often seen to be weaponised to target Opposition leaders selectively and disproportionately, many of whom are given a reprieve and/or positions of power if they cross over to the ruling party. Maharashtra, where the Shiv Sena and NCP were sliced into two, has showcased this politics of “tod phod (destruction)”. The AAP and its leadership have arguably borne the brunt of this politics: In the months leading up to the Delhi assembly election, its top leaders were jailed without bail in the so-called excise scam.AdvertisementThe third story is that of the broader opposition space that is under pressure, and shrinking. When the gap between the ruling and Opposition forces is wide, in an environment where politics becomes a zero-sum game and the ruling party has far greater resources at its command, the onus is on the Opposition to summon resilience. “Opposition unity”, too, has structural constraints. When it has stood together — as in the 2024 general elections or recently in Parliament to defeat the Delimitation Bill — it has reaped moments of success. However, the many interests of these parties may not always converge, and together, they have not articulated a common minimum programme. The AAP’s crisis underlines that in order to step up to its challenge, internal and external, the Opposition needs to first recognise it.