As the Election Commission of India (ECI) carries out the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across the country in a phased manner, political tensions have once again erupted over the exercise. This time, the face-off is between Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha and the Punjab government.
On Thursday, Chadha, a former Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader who crossed over to the BJP in April this year, slammed the Punjab government for playing “politics of revenge” after his name was allegedly removed from the draft electoral rolls.
In a rather lengthy post on X, Chadha accused the AAP-led Punjab government and wrote, "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."
He added, "This does not seem like a mere clerical mistake. This is a clear case of political vendetta." Questioning the state government, he wrote, "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 a higher level? Once again, the same AAP’s Punjab Government official."
The BJP leader further said, "From the BLO on the ground to the Chief Electoral Officer of Punjab, every operational level of this exercise is staffed by Punjab Government officials. The BLO is ordinarily a junior Punjab Government employee. The AEROs, EROs and DEOs in between are Punjab Government officials. At the top is a Punjab-cadre IAS officer serving as the Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab."
He also accused the AAP-led government of pressuring officers, stating that the state government controls their transfers, postings and careers once their electoral duty ends. Chadha alleged that the officials are aware that their lives could become difficult if they do not comply with the government.
Chadha alleged that the AAP leadership had been targeting him and other former party leaders since his departure, using the Punjab Police and the state government’s administrative machinery against those who refused to remain silent. He further claimed that other former AAP MPs who joined the BJP had also faced similar action, and described the removal of his name from the electoral rolls as the latest instance of what he called a political vendetta.
After his scathing post, the Aam Aadmi Party's Punjab unit took to X to respond to the former party leader's claim. Citing a national English daily, AAP accused Chadha of "trying to get his voter registration made in Delhi through a backdated process," adding that the BJP MP was shifting the onus onto the Punjab government. It further stated that the SIR exercise is conducted by the ECI and not the state government, adding that the Punjab government had no role in deciding whose name is included in or deleted from the electoral roll.
The party also added, "It is a matter of public record that Raghav Chadha has been living in Delhi and not in Punjab. If he no longer resides in Punjab, maintaining or shifting his voter registration was his own responsibility. He cannot now blame the AAP or the Punjab Government for the deletion of a voter entry."
Chadha’s name was among the 20.66 lakh names deleted from Punjab’s pre-SIR electoral rolls, accounting for 9.7 per cent of the total electorate. His name appeared on the list of those deleted from the state’s draft roll, which was released on August 13, the Indian Express reported, citing official records. He appears in the ASDD list, which covers voters classified as “absent, shifted, deceased and duplicate.” His entry has been marked as “permanently shifted.”
The final SIR electoral roll for Punjab is scheduled to be released on October 12. Voters whose names were deleted during the draft stage can still seek inclusion by filing a claim during the one-month window for claims and objections, which runs from August 13 to September 12.
