Raghav Chadha's name deleted from Punjab voter roll, Rajya Sabha MP alleges 'political vendetta'

Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Thursday accused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab of political vendetta after his name was marked as "shifted" in the state's draft electoral roll, released as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

Chadha, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an AAP nominee in 2022 and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) this year, raised the allegation in a post on X.

Also read: Over 1 crore enumeration forms digitised under SIR in 16 days: Punjab chief electoral officer


He said his voter ID was registered in Mohali, Punjab, and questioned why his name had been classified as "shifted" in the draft rolls despite being a sitting MP from the state. "This does not seem like a mere clerical mistake. This is a clear case of political vendetta," he said.

Chadha noted that the entry could still be corrected since the draft rolls are not final. "Thankfully, these are only the Draft Electoral Rolls, not the Final Electoral Rolls. Names are corrected during the 'Claims and Objections' process, which is ongoing. The Final Electoral Rolls will be published in October 2026," he said, adding that he was already pursuing the remedies available under SIR guidelines.

'AAP burning with anger since I left,' says Chadha

Chadha alleged that the classification was the work of AAP-appointed officials at every stage of verification. "Who marked me as 'shifted'? An official of AAP's Punjab Government. Who verified that classification? Again, an officer of AAP's Punjab Government. Who processed it at higher level? Once again, the same AAP's Punjab Government official," he said.

He went on to allege that other former AAP leaders who had switched to the BJP faced similar targeting by the state government. "Ever since I left the corrupt Aam Aadmi Party, its leadership has been burning with anger. It has unleashed the Punjab Police and the Punjab Government's administrative machinery against those of us who refused to remain silent. Other MPs who left AAP and joined the BJP have also been targeted by Punjab Govt," he said, calling the roll entry "the latest act in that political vendetta."

Officials vulnerable to political pressure, Chadha claims

Chadha argued that the entire chain of officials conducting the roll revision, from the Booth Level Officer (BLO) up to the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Punjab, are Punjab government employees whose careers depend on the state administration. "These officers know AAP Government controls their transfers, postings and careers once their electoral duty ends. They know who can transfer them and who can make their lives difficult. This is how the AAP government applies political pressure through state officers to execute the political revenge," he said.

Chadha referred to Paragraph 4(d) of the Election Commission of India's (ECI) Detailed Guidelines for the SIR, which he said mandates a "protected list" for categories including judges, MPs and MLAs. Citing the guideline, he said it requires that names of public representatives and other flagged individuals "are to be included in the Draft Electoral Rolls, so that necessary documents can also be collected during the period of Claims and Objections."

"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. The instruction was not overlooked. It was wilfully violated in my case," Chadha said. "AAP may run the Punjab Government, but Punjab's Draft Electoral Rolls are not its private property."

There was no immediate response from AAP or the Punjab government to Chadha's allegations.

20.66 lakh names removed from Punjab's draft rolls

Chadha's allegations come days after the Election Commission published Punjab's draft electoral roll in August under the second phase of the SIR exercise. Nearly 20.66 lakh voters, or 9.63% of Punjab's 2.14 crore registered electors as of June 9, 2026, were removed from the draft roll.

Also read: Over 6 crore voters deleted in SIR phase 3; Delhi sees highest cut at 32.7%

Of these, 9,44,131 voters were classified as permanently shifted, 5,74,568 as deceased, 4,12,715 as untraceable and 1,19,145 as duplicate entries.

More than 1.93 crore electors, or 90.37% of registered voters, had submitted forms during the 40-day house-to-house enumeration exercise carried out across all 117 assembly constituencies between June 25 and August 3.