New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha’s name has reportedly been deleted from Punjab’s draft electoral rolls prepared under the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR), with his entry marked as “permanently shifted”.
Chadha has accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab of using the electoral revision exercise for “political vendetta”, alleging that his name was removed despite his voter ID being registered in Mohali.
“The AAP government in Punjab has now taken its politics of revenge to the Draft Electoral Rolls. I am a sitting Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, with my voter ID registered in Mohali, Punjab. Yet my name has been classified as ‘shifted’ in the draft electoral rolls,” Chadha said.
The MP said the error could still be rectified since the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) process allows voters to file claims and objections before the final electoral rolls are published.
However, he expressed suspicion over the deletion, saying it did not appear to be a mere clerical mistake and termed it “a clear case of political vendetta”.
The BJP leader further alleged that officials involved in the revision process could be vulnerable to political pressure as their postings and transfers are controlled by the state government.
He also claimed that ever since he left the AAP, its leadership has been “burning with anger”, alleging that the Punjab Police and the state government’s administrative machinery had been unleashed against those who refused to remain silent.
“Other MPs who left AAP and joined the BJP have also been targeted by Punjab Govt. This wrongful classification is only the latest act in that political vendetta,” he added.
Chadha was initially registered as a voter in Delhi when he contested the 2022 Rajya Sabha election. After becoming a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab, he shifted his electoral registration to Mohali and cast his vote there during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, according to The Indian Express.
