Raghav Chadha has alleged that his name was deliberately marked as “shifted” in Punjab’s draft electoral rolls released after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), accusing the Bhagwant Mann-led AAP government of using the electoral process for political vendetta, NDTV reported.
The AAP-turned-BJP Rajya Sabha MP, who is registered as a voter in Mohali, said he was surprised to find his name classified as “shifted” in the draft voter list. He stressed, however, that the rolls are provisional and that the final electoral rolls are expected to be published in October 2026.
Chadha alleged that the Punjab government had taken its “politics of revenge” to the draft electoral rolls, arguing that the classification was not simply a clerical mistake but part of what he described as a broader political vendetta against him.
Chadha joined the BJP in April this year along with six other AAP Rajya Sabha MPs.
Questioning how his name could have been marked as shifted, Chadha alleged that officials involved at various levels of the electoral revision process are employees of the Punjab government. He pointed to Booth Level Officers (BLOs), Assistant Electoral Registration Officers, Electoral Registration Officers and District Election Officers, and argued that their transfers, postings and careers could leave them vulnerable to political pressure.
The Aam Aadmi Party rejected Chadha’s allegations, accusing him of attempting to shift the blame onto the AAP and Punjab government after reports that he had sought to register himself as a voter in Delhi through a backdated process.
The party maintained that the SIR is conducted by the Election Commission and that the Punjab government has no role in deciding which names are added to or removed from the electoral rolls.
Chadha also cited Paragraph 4(d) of the Election Commission’s SIR guidelines, arguing that MPs and MLAs are part of a “protected list”. According to him, names of public representatives flagged during the electoral database verification process should still be included in the draft rolls to enable them to participate in the claims and objections process.
“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 deliberately violated in his case.
Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Anindita Mitra, however, said she was not aware of any deletion of Chadha’s name, as reported by NDTV. She said she would seek a detailed report from district election authorities to determine whether any deletion had taken place and, if so, the reasons for it.
Mitra also noted that the claims and objections process is currently open, with September 13 being the deadline for voters to raise objections or seek corrections in the electoral rolls.
AAP leader Neel Garg also dismissed Chadha’s allegations, saying the party had no reason to target an individual voter. He instead alleged that the controversy was being created by the BJP and referred to similar disputes surrounding SIR exercises in Bihar and West Bengal.
The controversy comes as Punjab prepares for the 2027 Assembly elections and has brought renewed attention to the electoral roll revision process and the increasingly sharp political contest between the AAP and BJP in the state.
