President Droupadi Murmu has scheduled a meeting with BJP MP Raghav Chadha on May 5, following his request to inform her about the alleged misuse of Punjab Government state machinery for political retaliation against MPs who recently left the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), sources said.

The MPs who switched parties last month include Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, and Ashok Mittal, all of whom joined the BJP in the presence of party leadership. Additionally, Harbhajan Singh, Rajinder Gupta, Vikramjit Singh Sahney, and Swati Maliwal also moved to the BJP.

Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is also set to meet President Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan on May 5. Mann described the meeting as a crucial step in protecting the mandate of the people of Punjab and the democratic values, following his formal request for an audience with the President.

Meanwhile, Punjab Police filed two FIRs involving non-bailable offences against Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak on Saturday, with separate cases registered in different districts of Punjab. The BJP and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) have criticised the timing of these FIRs, labelling them as acts of political vendetta against Pathak.

Punjab BJP working president Ashwani Sharma accused the AAP state government of using law enforcement to suppress opposition voices. In a post on X, Sharma stated: “There is no law in Punjab; now, political vendetta is in effect. Bhagwant Mann and Kejriwal’s fear exposed. The fact that a non-bailable FIR was registered against Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak ji in Punjab as soon as he left AAP and joined BJP clearly shows that Kejriwal and Bhagwant Mann are using the police as a political weapon.”

He added: “This is not just one case–this is the politics of fear, panic and vendetta. Police were used to silence opposing voices earlier, too–the same is being repeated today. Non-bailable clauses, threats of immediate action are a shameful act of implementing a political agenda under the guise of law.”