Raghav Chadha's curious SIR case: Out of Punjab list, 'delayed' entry in Delhi

The AAP and Raghav Chadha were involved in a war of words after the BJP Rajya Sabha MP's name was added to the voters' list of Delhi amid the SIR exercise.

In Short

• Raghav Chadha's name added to Delhi voters' list amid SIR
• BJP MP had alleged vendetta after removal from Punjab draft rolls
• AAP accuses Raghav Chadha of illegal voter registration in Delhi

BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab Raghav Chadha's name was curiously added to the voters' list of Delhi amid the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), days after he alleged a "political vendetta" behind the deletion of his name from the Punjab draft rolls. While the draft electoral rolls for Delhi were published on August 31, Chadha's name was among the 700 included in the list across Delhi on September 8, PTI reported. It has raised questions about how Chadha's name was included in the Delhi voter list after the draft rolls had already been published.

The AAP cried foul, alleging that Chadha illegally registered himself as a voter in Delhi, with the Rajya Sabha MP accusing his former party of behaving like a "dumped lover". Chadha, rejecting the charges, said he followed all Election Commission procedures.

Delhi election officials told PTI that Chadha's name was added to the rolls through the updation process. The former AAP MP has been registered as a voter in Punjab since 2024. In the draft Delhi list, his name was included in the electoral rolls of the Rajinder Nagar constituency.

"A total of 700 forms for inclusion of names in the electoral rolls were approved by the EROs in 70 Assembly constituencies in Delhi till Tuesday. Chadha's name was among them," an official at the office of the Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) told PTI.

RAGHAV CHADHA'S CURIOUS VOTER LIST CASE

The dispute has brought Chadha's voter registration into focus. It has raised a curious question. How was his name included in the Delhi voter list after the draft rolls had already been published? India Today has reached out to the Election Commission to get clarification on the matter.

Delhi's electoral roll was frozen between June 16 and August 31 for the SIR exercise. The draft electoral rolls for Delhi were published on August 31. On September 3, Chadha's name was deleted from Punjab's draft roll.

The Delhi CEO, in a statement, said that till August 31, around 2.14 lakh Form 6 were received. Form 6 is used for new voter registration in the electoral roll.

During the period of claims and objections, another 25,011 Form 6 were submitted till September 7 for the inclusion of their names in the final electoral rolls. The final voter list will be published on November 4.

As per ECI rules, those left out of the draft list can get back on the rolls by filing Form 6 during the claims and objections period. The Form 6 applications approved by the EROs are then included in the final roll.

BOOTH NUMBER 46 PUZZLE

This is where the AAP has alleged a mismatch.

Addressing a press conference, AAP Delhi chief Saurabh Bharadwaj said Chadha's name was added to the rolls of booth number 46 in Rajinder Nagar constituency.

ECI's portal showed Chadha's name at serial number 747 of booth number 46. This is where matters get interesting.

The draft electoral roll of booth number 46, published by the ECI on August 31, showed the last serial number as 746. Chadha's name was not included.

Bharadwaj said the Election Commission should clarify whether Chadha's vote had been transferred from Punjab to Delhi.

"Raghav Chadha himself was claiming that he is a voter from Punjab and would get his vote recast there. The ECI had also frozen the draft electoral roll. In such a situation, how did his name get added to the voter list in Delhi during SIR? Under what process was this new vote created?" Bharadwaj said.

This is, however, not the first time that Chadha's name has appeared in the Rajinder Nagar constituency voter roll.

If we see Chadha's affidavit for the 2022 Rajya Sabha polls, the then AAP leader had declared that he was a registered voter of booth number 52 in Rajinder Nagar.

After he entered the Rajya Sabha from Punjab, Chadha shifted his electoral registration. He also voted in a booth in Mohali's SAS Nagar in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The 37-year-old leader quit the AAP to join the BJP earlier this year along with six other MPs.

Now, with his name back on Delhi's voters' list, the case has sparked curiosity.

RAGHAV CHADHA'S DUMPED LOVER JIBE

In a scathing counterattack, Chadha accused the AAP of behaving like a "dumped lover" and said he followed all "applicable ECI guidelines" and "procedures".

"I seem to be haunting Arvind Kejriwal and the AAP. Day and night, all they think about is Raghav Chadha and how to attack him. They are behaving like a bitter ex who has just been dumped," Chadha said in a pointed statement.

However, he did not clarify how his name curiously cropped up in Delhi's voter rolls after the publication of the draft list.

"I have followed all applicable ECI guidelines and procedures and availed the prescribed remedies," he said.

"AAP has confused electoral rolls with its party membership register. It wants to cut out everyone who walks away from Kejriwal and his corrupt AAP," Chadha further said.

It's now up to the Election Commission to clarify the issue.

- Ends