The dispute over BJP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha’s voter registration has taken a fresh political turn, with the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) accusing its former leader of attempting to restore his name to Delhi’s electoral rolls through what it described as a “backdated” process.
The allegation came after Chadha publicly questioned the deletion of his name from Punjab’s draft electoral roll prepared under the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Chadha’s name appears in the Punjab draft roll among entries marked for reasons including “absent, shifted, deceased and duplicate”. His entry has been categorised as “permanently shifted”.
The development has triggered a political clash between Chadha and his former party, with both sides disputing the circumstances surrounding his voter registration.
Why was Raghav Chadha’s name removed from Punjab’s draft voter list?
Punjab’s draft electoral roll published on August 13 contains more than 20 lakh names that were excluded during the SIR exercise.
Chadha is among those whose names have been marked as “permanently shifted”.
The BJP MP, however, has questioned the classification, pointing out that he is a sitting Rajya Sabha MP representing Punjab and claiming that his voter registration was in Mohali.
Chadha accused the AAP government in Punjab of political vendetta and argued that the deletion was not simply an administrative error.
“This does not seem like a mere clerical mistake. This is a clear case of political vendetta,” Chadha said.
What is AAP’s allegation against Chadha?
AAP has rejected Chadha’s accusation that the Punjab government was responsible for removing his name.
Instead, the party has turned the issue around by raising questions about his earlier voter registration in Delhi.
According to AAP, Chadha had declared in his affidavit for the 2022 Rajya Sabha election that he was registered as a voter at Booth Number 52 in Delhi’s Rajinder Nagar.
The party has now alleged that Chadha is attempting to have his name entered again in the Rajinder Nagar electoral roll through a backdated process.
AAP claimed it had received information from Election Commission sources about an alleged attempt to make such an entry.
The party said that if a backdated or unlawful voter registration process was actually attempted, the matter should be investigated and those responsible should be held accountable.
AAP also argued that if Chadha no longer lived in Punjab, maintaining or transferring his electoral registration was his responsibility.
Why is Delhi registration important?
The controversy is partly linked to Chadha’s electoral history.
Before his election to the Rajya Sabha in 2022, Chadha’s election affidavit reportedly identified Rajinder Nagar in Delhi as his voter registration location.
He was subsequently elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab as an AAP candidate.
His electoral registration was later shifted to Punjab, and he reportedly voted in Mohali during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The competing claims over his Delhi and Punjab voter registrations have now become central to the political dispute.
Can Raghav Chadha lose his Rajya Sabha seat?
AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj has escalated the issue by claiming that Chadha could face questions over his Rajya Sabha membership if his electoral status remains unresolved.
In a post on X, Bharadwaj said, “Raghav Chaddha might lose his Rajya Sabha because his vote got deleted in SIR.”
The issue relates to the Representation of the People Act, 1951. Section 3 requires a person seeking election to the Rajya Sabha to be registered as an elector in a parliamentary constituency in India.
However, the deletion of a name from a draft electoral roll does not by itself establish that an elected Rajya Sabha member has automatically lost his seat. The legal and constitutional consequences, if any, would depend on the final electoral roll and the applicable legal process.
What does Chadha say?
Chadha has maintained that the deletion of his name from Punjab’s draft electoral roll is politically motivated.
He questioned why a sitting Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab had been classified as “permanently shifted” when his voter registration was in Mohali.
His allegation is that the Punjab government and AAP were using the electoral-roll revision to target him politically.
AAP has denied having any role in the deletion, stressing that the SIR exercise is conducted by the Election Commission and that the state government does not independently decide which names are added or removed from electoral rolls.
What happens next?
The controversy is likely to continue during the claims and objections stage of the electoral-roll revision.
The Election Commission’s SIR process will determine the status of the disputed voter entry based on the relevant documents and verification.
At the same time, AAP’s allegation regarding an alleged backdated Delhi registration could lead to further political and potentially administrative scrutiny if evidence is produced.
For now, the dispute has two competing narratives: Chadha alleges political vendetta over the deletion of his Punjab voter entry, while AAP is questioning whether he was properly registered in Punjab and alleging an attempt to obtain a Delhi registration through a backdated process.
Neither side’s political allegations should be treated as established facts unless confirmed through the appropriate electoral or legal process.
