• Source:JND

As Raghav Chadha, along with six other Rajya Sabha MPs, exited from the Aam Aadmi Party, veteran activist Anna Hazare claimed that each person has the right to take political decisions. He said it's the party's fault that he chose to leave.

"Everyone has the right to hold an opinion in a democracy. They (Chadha and others) must have faced some trouble, which is why they left," Hazare told reporters on Friday in Ahilyanagar district of Maharashtra, news agency PTI reported.

The social activist continued to place the responsibility on the party leadership. "It is their (AAP leadership's) fault. Had that party followed the right way, they would not have left," Hazare said. "Had the party gone in the right direction, they would not have quit the party," Hazare added.

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Hazare added that there are always underlying reasons behind a political decision to leave a party, and these must be seen in the larger democratic context. "There must be some reason or the other (for their leaving AAP). In a democracy, every person has a view about where to stay and leave," Hazare said.

During the 2011 anti-corruption campaign, Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal had a close relationship. Kejriwal collaborated with Hazare during Delhi's fasts and protests. Hazare's hard-hitting reaction came after Chadha announced that he would join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) along with six other AAP MPs, a move that amounted to two‑thirds of the Arvind Kejriwal‑led party's total strength in the Rajya Sabha breaking away.

Chadha, along with Ashok Mittal, Sandeep Pathak, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikram Sahni, and Swati Maliwal, joined the BJP on Friday.

Chadha Accused AAP Of Betrayal

On one hand, Chadha accused the AAP of corruption as the deciding factor behind his exit, while the party called the move a "betrayal" of the people of Punjab. Chadha is a Rajya Sabha member from the state.

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Addressing a press conference on Friday, Chadha said, "I gave the AAP 15 years of my life. Now the party has stepped away from honest politics. I am moving away and going close to the people. Today, the AAP is corrupt and compromised. It is not the old party. I don't want to engage in the wrongdoings of AAP."

Chadha's merger with the BJP stems from a significant controversy earlier this month, after the AAP removed him as its deputy leader in the Rajya Sabha, a move that brought their rift into the open. The party had also requested of the Rajya Sabha Chairman that Chadha should not be allotted time from the party's quota to speak in the House.

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