Overview
- On Monday, three Punjab legislators — Harmeet Singh Pathanmajra, Chetan Singh Jouramajra and Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singh — left the Aam Aadmi Party and were formally inducted into the BJP, and the Punjab Assembly speaker accepted Kunwar’s resignation.
- Two newly elected Independent members of the Bihar Legislative Council, Banshidhar Brajwasi and Rahul Kumar, joined the BJP shortly after the council results were declared, drawing immediate criticism from opposition parties.
- AAP has asked the Punjab Speaker to cancel the MLAs’ assembly membership and RJD and allied parties have said they will seek disqualification of the Bihar Independents under the Tenth Schedule, which can strip Independents of their seat if they join a party.
- Defectors have cited governance failures, a worsening drug and crime situation, and disputes over candidate selection as reasons for leaving, while BJP leaders welcomed the entrants and signalled they could be fielded from their current constituencies.
- The defections are unlikely to change majorities now but will shape campaign narratives and candidate calculations ahead of the 2027 state polls, and legal petitions to Speakers, the state council chairman or the Election Commission could trigger formal disqualification processes and court review.