CHANDIGARH, Sep 3: Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Thursday alleged political vendetta by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab after his name was marked as “shifted” in the draft electoral rolls prepared following the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise.
Chadha said his voter ID was registered in Mohali and alleged that the electoral machinery was being misused against him after he switched from the AAP to the BJP in April.
“The AAP government in Punjab has now taken its politics of revenge to the draft electoral rolls,” Chadha said in a post on X, alleging that the classification of his name as “shifted” was not a clerical error but an act of political vendetta.
He said he was availing the remedies available under the SIR guidelines, noting that the rolls were still in draft form and that the final electoral rolls were expected to be published in October.
Chadha questioned who marked and verified his name as “shifted” and who processed the classification at higher levels. He alleged that officials involved in the SIR exercise were susceptible to political pressure as their transfers and postings were controlled by the state government.
He also cited provisions of the SIR guidelines relating to public representatives, including MPs and MLAs, and alleged that the instructions had been violated in his case.
“I'm a sitting Member of Parliament from Punjab. If at all my name was flagged, Paragraph 4(d) required my inclusion in the draft rolls,” Chadha said, adding that the draft electoral rolls could not be treated as the private property of the ruling party.
The AAP, however, rejected Chadha’s allegations and said the Special Intensive Revision was being conducted by the Election Commission, not the state government.
An AAP spokesperson said the Punjab Government had no role in deciding whose names were included or deleted from electoral rolls.
The spokesperson claimed that Chadha had been living in Delhi rather than Punjab and said maintaining or shifting his voter registration was his responsibility.
The AAP also alleged that Chadha was attempting to get his voter registration transferred to Rajinder Nagar in Delhi through a “backdated process”.
“If any such backdated or unlawful exercise took place, it must be investigated, and the entire truth be brought before the public,” the spokesperson said.
The party further said that if the BJP or anyone else had facilitated such an entry, it would pursue the matter and seek to establish the facts.
The controversy comes amid the ongoing SIR exercise and the claims-and-objections process for the preparation of the final electoral rolls in Punjab.
