- Raghav Chadha alleges his name was wrongly marked as shifted in Punjab's draft voter list
- Chadha claims Punjab's AAP government is using electoral process for political vendetta against him
- Says electoral officials involved in revision are Punjab government employees, potentially under pressure
He "shifted" political course, now the draft voter list after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Punjab marks him as "shifted". AAP-turned-BJP MP Raghav Chadha has alleged that his name was deliberately classified as "shifted" in the recently released draft voter list of Punjab and has accused the Bhagwant Mann-led government of using the electoral machinery for political vendetta.
Chadha, a sitting Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab who is registered as a voter in Mohali, said he was surprised to find his name classified as "shifted" in the draft electoral rolls. He, however, underlined that these are only draft rolls and that the final electoral rolls are scheduled to be published in October 2026.
"The AAP government in Punjab has now taken its politics of revenge to the Draft Electoral Rolls," Chadha alleged, claiming that the classification was not a "mere clerical error" but part of a wider "political vendetta" against him.
In April this year, Raghav Chadha joined the BJP along with six other AAP Rajya Sabha MPs.
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He questioned how his name was marked as shifted and alleged that officials at different levels of the electoral exercise were employees of the Punjab Government. Chadha claimed that from Booth Level Officers (BLOs) to Assistant Electoral Registration Officers, Electoral Registration Officers and District Election Officers, the process involves state government officials.
He further alleged that these officials could face political pressure because their transfers, postings and careers are controlled by the state government.
Chadha also cited Paragraph 4(d) of the Election Commission of India's detailed guidelines for SIR, arguing that public representatives, including MPs and MLAs, fall under a "protected list" whose names, if flagged in the electoral database, should be included in the draft rolls to facilitate the claims and objections process.
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"I am a sitting Member of Parliament from Punjab. If at all my name was flagged, Paragraph 4(d) required my inclusion in the draft electoral rolls," Chadha said, alleging that the provision was "wilfully violated" in his case.
However, Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Anindita Mitra, while speaking to NDTV, said she was not aware of any deletion of Chadha's name. She said she would seek a detailed report from the district election authorities to ascertain whether any deletion had actually been made and, if so, the reasons behind it.
Mitra also pointed out that the claims and objections process is currently underway. She said September 13 is the deadline for people to file appeals if they find any changes or discrepancies in the electoral rolls.
The controversy has also triggered a political counterattack from AAP. Party leader Neel Garg rejected the allegation that AAP had any interest in deleting an individual's vote and alleged that the controversy was the handiwork of the BJP. He referred to the SIR exercise conducted in Bihar and West Bengal and questioned the BJP's intentions behind raising the issue.
With the claims and objections process still underway, the controversy has put the spotlight on the functioning of Punjab's electoral roll revision exercise and the political battle between AAP and BJP ahead of the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections.
