Mumbai, April 27 (IANS) A protest by leaders and workers of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) outside the residence of Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha in Mumbai led to police action, with several demonstrators being detained and a case registered against more than eight individuals.

During the protest, demonstrators raised slogans, including “Traitor Raghav Chadha”, expressing their anger over his reported exit from the party. The protest was described as intense, prompting intervention by the Khar Police Station, which later issued notices to the detainees and released them.

Police registered a First Information Report (FIR) against eight AAP leaders, including Mumbai Working President Reuben Mascarenhas. The case has been filed under Sections 189(2), 189(3), and 223 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with relevant provisions of the Maharashtra Police Act.

According to police officials, the FIR pertains to alleged unlawful assembly and protest activities against Chadha and six other Rajya Sabha members who merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Upper House.

The development follows a major political shift last week, when Chadha and six other AAP MPs announced that they were leaving the party and joining the BJP. The move was presented as a group merger rather than individual defections, a distinction that holds significance under India’s anti-defection law.

AAP had 10 members in the Rajya Sabha. With seven MPs moving together, they crossed the required two-thirds threshold, enabling them to seek protection under the provisions of the anti-defection law.

The issue has triggered a wider political and legal debate, not only about the defections but also about earlier reform proposals related to such laws, some of which Chadha himself had supported.

Meanwhile, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has sought an appointment with President Droupadi Murmu, where he appears to present his case regarding the AAP’s call to disqualify its rebel members.

Chadha had been elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab.

–IANS

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