In a dramatic development on Friday, April 24, 2026, Aam Aadmi Party MPs Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak and Ashok Mittal resigned from the party and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.
BJP leaders say Nitin Nabin's low-profile image has made him a favourite of Amit Shah, who was in search of such a leader to appoint to the top party position -- someone who follows the Modi-Shah line as BJP president without "ifs and buts".
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani on Wednesday backed party chief Nitin Gadkari, saying the latter has come "clean" by asking for a probe on the charges against him. "Nitinji has come clean by asking for an inquiry by the department of company affairs," Advani said in a statement on certain media allegations questioning investments in the BJP president's family business.
Mungantiwar also dismissed rumours that Union minister Nitin Gadkari may be appointed as the state's chief minister.
Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa on Friday said he had discussed with Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari the issue of his shifting to national politics after the next assembly elections, and would abide by the decision of the party central leadership.
'We are fully capable of handling anti-India propaganda but it does pain when a former president of such a big political party does ochi rajiniti (shallow minded politics) at a time of problems. It is a matter of self-introspection for him and the Congress'