The Aam Aadmi Party’s internal crisis deepened when Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, now with the Bhartiya Janta Party, launched a direct attack on Arvind Kejriwal. She accused the AAP chief of betraying the ideals that once defined the party.
Recalling the alleged assault at Kejriwal’s residence in 2024, Maliwal said a close aide attacked her and later pressured her to withdraw her FIR. She alleged party leaders tried to silence her when she resisted. She also claimed AAP denied her even a minute to speak in Parliament for two years.
For a party that built its image on moral politics, those charges cut deep.
From Movement Politics to Power Politics
Maliwal framed her rebellion as more than a defection. She cast it as an insider’s indictment.
She reminded reporters she stood with Kejriwal since 2006, left home to work in jhuggis and helped build the movement from the ground up. Yet she said the leadership answered loyalty with intimidation.
Her allegations against Bibhav Kumar pushed the 2024 assault case back into the spotlight. She argued the party rewarded the accused with influence instead of isolating him politically. That sharpened a wider charge against AAP: it shields loyalists while preaching ethics.
Her remarks also came amid a Rajya Sabha exodus led by Raghav Chadha. What once looked like dissent now resembles organised revolt.
Punjab Charges Add to Pressure
Maliwal did not stop at the assault case. She accused AAP of abandoning clean politics and turning Punjab into a hub of corruption.
She cited illegal sand mining, rampant drug abuse, and remote-controlled governance. Her “personal ATM” remark struck at AAP’s claim of offering an alternative model.
For a party born by attacking old political corruption, such charges hit at its founding narrative.
She had already accused the leadership of enabling criminal elements and ignoring harassment against women. Saturday’s intervention escalated those allegations into open political warfare.
Why Her BJP Move Matters
Maliwal insisted conviction, not compulsion, drove her switch to the BJP. She praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership and urged those committed to constructive politics to join the BJP.
That matters politically.
Her crossover now signals more than an isolated switch. It suggests even AAP insiders doubt the experiment will survive.
This is no longer only the story of one MP leaving a party.
It is the story of a party facing accusations from one of its former insiders of becoming what it once claimed to fight.
