The ‘missing’ seven: As AAP hits the streets, most of its 10 MPs are not on the ground

SINCE THE arrest of its national convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on March 21, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has held several protests in Delhi as well as in other parts of the country.

Most of its 10 Rajya Sabha members, however, have been conspicuous by their absence at these protests – with Sanjay Singh, Sandeep Pathak and N D Gupta the exceptions.

After the defection of its lone Lok Sabha MP, Sushil Kumar Rinku, to the BJP recently, these MPs remain the AAP’s only parliamentarians.

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Asked about the “silence” of fellow AAP Rajya Sabha MPs, Sanjay Singh said Wednesday: “The party will discuss this at its own fora.”

Since he was released on bail by the Supreme Court in the Delhi excise policy case for which Kejriwal too has been arrested, Sanjay Singh has become the face of the party protests. Pathak, the AAP’s national general secretary (organisation), is the other prominent Rajya Sabha MP part of the protests, apart from N D Gupta, who is one of the party’s senior-most MPs and its treasurer.

While Gupta is generally not active on X, he has been actively involved in the party’s affairs and was part of AAP protests at Ramlila Maidan on March 31 and at Jantar Mantar on April 7.

The Indian Express reached out to the seven AAP Rajya Sabha MPs missing from the ground:

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Raghav Chadha

Generally a vocal leader and face of the party’s press conferences against the Modi government, Chadha, the Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, left for London last month for an eye surgery. While he was originally scheduled to return towards end-March, only his wife Parineeti Chopra, whose film Amar Singh Chamkila is coming up for its Netflix release, returned while he stayed back.

Since Kejriwal’s arrest on March 21, Chadha has routinely tweeted in support of the AAP chief and the party. When Sanjay Singh was released from jail, he posted an old photo of him and the MP, expressing his happiness at the bail. He also reposted a video of Kejriwal’s wife Sunita delivering her husband’s “message” from jail to AAP MLAs to “continue working for the public”.

Chadha was unavailable for comment but sources close to him said his return is delayed as the post-surgery instructions for his retinal detachment surgery are to not go out in the sun. “As soon as he is given the clearance by doctors, he will be back and join party activities on the ground, a party leader said.

Swati Maliwal

A first-time MP from Delhi, Maliwal is in the US, and has told the party she needs to be there as her sister is recuperating from an illness.

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Maliwal has been posting messages of support for the party and its leaders on social media. When the BJP alleged that many AAP leaders were not coming out in support of Kejriwal, she called it “fake news.”

Speaking to The Indian Express, Maliwal said: “My sister has been living in the US for the past 15 years. She is ill and I am here to support her. I am coming back soon and will strongly fight against the dictatorship of the current regime. The arrest of Mr Arvind Kejriwal is a brutal assault on the democratic system of the country. The people of the country are anguished by the misuse of agencies. I shall always fight against oppression and injustice, the way I have been doing the past 20 years, especially during my work at the DCW.”

Harbhajan Singh

A former India cricketer, Harbhajan has rarely participated in AAP activities since becoming a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab. On Kejriwal’s arrest, he has been silent, with most of his recent posts on X being about the ongoing IPL. On March 24, he congratulated Punjab Chief Minister and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann on the birth of his daughter.

Asked whether he would participate in the protests planned by the AAP, he told The Indian Express, “No.” He did not elaborate further.

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Ashok Kumar Mittal

The founder of Punjab-based Lovely Professional University and an AAP MP from the state, Mittal has also been largely absent from party activities. On X, he has been tweeting about the Inter-Parliamentary Union conference in Geneva, held between March 23 and 27, in which he participated.

Now back, Mittal told The Indian Express: “I am not authorised to talk about this (the AAP protests). The party headquarters will tell us what is to be done.” He also claimed he had not been invited to a recent protest held by the party.

Sanjeev Arora

Another MP from Punjab, Arora said he had met Sunita on March 24, after Kejriwal’s arrest, but admitted skipping the INDIA bloc protest at Ramlila Maidan over it.

Arora said he could not attend as he had been given “duties” by the party in Ludhiana. “I have always fulfilled responsibilities given to me. I am in constant touch with N D Gupta ji, who is our leader in the Rajya Sabha. If I am asked to come for a protest, I will be there,” he told The Indian Express.

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Balbir Singh Seechewal

An environment activist and an AAP Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, Seechewal has also not been seen at most party protests. When asked about his absence, he said, “I am a man of religion and am fulfilling my duties. If there is any plan, we will share it.”

Vikramjit Singh Sahney

While Sahney has been largely absent from AAP activities and silent over Kejriwal’s arrest, over the past few days, he has posted on X videos of his interaction with students at Stanford University and at a gathering in the memory of author Khushwant Singh.

While he was not available for comment, sources close to Sahney said that he has said several times that he is “non-political”. And that, “though he is quite vocal about issues in Punjab, he is a philanthropist engaged in skilling youth and drug de-addiction”.