Raghav Chadha electoral roll dispute

A political dispute has emerged involving Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab regarding electoral roll accuracy.

Initially, Chadha, who recently joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accused the Punjab government of “political vendetta” after his name was removed from the state’s draft electoral rolls during a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. He claimed his entry was incorrectly classified as “permanently shifted” and argued that state officials were under political pressure to target opponents. The AAP government denied these claims, asserting that the SIR process is managed by the Election Commission and alleging that Chadha attempted to register as a voter in Delhi through a “backdated process.”

The conflict has progressed with Chadha being added to the Delhi voter list in the Rajinder Nagar assembly constituency. AAP leaders have raised formal objections, questioning the procedural integrity of the addition. They noted that a specific polling booth, which contained 746 voters in the August 31 draft list, now shows 747 voters with Chadha included, suggesting a potential bypass of standard rules. The party has demanded transparency and clarification from the Election Commission regarding the timeline and method of his registration.

Election officials from the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer’s office have clarified the timeline, stating that Chadha submitted a Form-6 application on August 26. This was approved by the Electoral Registration Officer on September 2 following a mandatory seven-day notice period. Officials noted that approved names reflect in the database immediately, even before the final roll is published. Chadha maintains he has adhered to all Election Commission guidelines and continues to dismiss the allegations as a “politics of revenge.”