Bharatiya Janata Party MP Raghav Chadha met with President Droupadi Murmu on Tuesday to raise concerns about the Punjab government allegedly targeting former Aam Aadmi Party MPs who switched allegiance to the BJP in the Rajya Sabha last month.

In a post on ‘X’, Chadha accused the Punjab government of misusing state machinery against these former AAP MPs, stating that the party “once cried vendetta is now practising its most toxic form.” He said: “I want to tell AAP that they have started a dangerous game of revenge with the help of the Vigilance Board and Pollution Board, but the end will be really bad. According to sources, I will be their next target. The Punjab govt hired agencies to threaten us on social media. AAP is doing this using Punjab govt funds. This is the reason I said AAP is stuck in the hands of corrupt and compromised people.”

At a press conference following the meeting, Chadha said the Punjab government had engaged agencies to threaten all seven former AAP MPs who had joined the BJP, using state funds. He added: “Honoured to meet the Hon’ble President of India this morning, along with three fellow MPs. We conveyed how the AAP’s Punjab government is misusing State machinery to target us for exercising our constitutional rights, after two-thirds of MPs chose to merge with the BJP. The party that once cried vendetta is now practising its most toxic form. We take strength from the President’s assurance that constitutional rights and democratic choices must be respected. AAP today behaves less like a political party and more like an obsessed, jilted ex — bitter, vindictive, and unable to move on.”

Chadha’s statements follow the Punjab government registering two FIRs against Sandeep Pathak, a Rajya Sabha MP who left the AAP to join the BJP. Chadha also said the President had assured security to all seven former AAP MPs and warned Punjab government officials, noting the current state administration’s limited remaining term.

He said: “We made the President aware of the misuse and abuse of the Punjab state machinery by Aam Aadmi Party. The President has assured us of our protection and of protecting the Constitution. I want to tell the Punjab govt officers to beware, as the AAP govt has only a few months remaining now. Today, we told the President about the way the Punjab government has been using state machinery for dangerous vendetta politics against the MPs who left AAP to join the BJP.”

Chadha alleged that malicious and fabricated cases had been filed against BJP MP Sandeep Pathak, and cited the shutting down of Rajinder Gupta’s factory in Punjab. “‘Deshdrohi’ was written outside the residence of World Cup winner Harbhajan Singh by AAP workers with the help of the Punjab Police. After this, the water connection to Padma Shree Rajendra Gupta’s factory was cut in Punjab. AAP also registered malicious and fabricated FIRs against Sandeep Pathak, and it was spread through the media that he would be arrested,” he added.