Raghav Chadha Voter Roll Row: AAP Accuses BJP MP of Backdated Delhi Registration

The Aam Aadmi Party has accused its former leader and BJP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha of attempting to secure a backdated entry in Delhi's electoral rolls after his name was deleted from Punjab's draft voter list during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision.

The controversy began after Chadha alleged political vendetta over the deletion of his name from Punjab's draft electoral rolls. The draft list marked him as having “permanently shifted”, placing his name among voters listed as absent, shifted, deceased or duplicate.

AAP has now countered the allegation, claiming Chadha was attempting to get his voter registration restored in Delhi through a backdated process. The party said it had received information suggesting that an attempt was being made to register him again in the Rajinder Nagar constituency.

According to AAP, Chadha had previously declared in his affidavit for the 2022 Rajya Sabha elections that he was registered as a voter in Delhi's Rajinder Nagar. The party questioned his criticism of the Punjab electoral roll revision, arguing that he has been living in Delhi and was responsible for maintaining or shifting his voter registration.

Chadha, however, has maintained that his deletion from Punjab's draft electoral rolls was politically motivated. He said his voter ID was registered in Mohali and questioned why he had been classified as permanently shifted despite being a sitting Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab.

AAP rejected allegations that the Punjab government was responsible for removing his name, stressing that the Special Intensive Revision process is conducted by the Election Commission and that state governments do not decide whose names are added or deleted from electoral rolls.

The dispute has also triggered questions about Chadha's Rajya Sabha membership. AAP Delhi unit president Saurabh Bharadwaj claimed that the BJP MP could face questions regarding his eligibility if his name remains absent from the electoral rolls.

Under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a person must be registered as an elector in a parliamentary constituency in India to be eligible for election to the Rajya Sabha.

Chadha was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab in 2022 as an AAP nominee. His voter registration has previously been associated with both Delhi and Punjab. He had declared himself a voter in Delhi before shifting his registration to Punjab and voting in Mohali during the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The Punjab Special Intensive Revision exercise has resulted in the deletion of millions of names from the draft electoral rolls, with voters marked under categories including absent, shifted, deceased and duplicate. Chadha's name was listed among those marked as permanently shifted.

The final electoral rolls in Punjab are scheduled to be published on October 12, which could determine the next stage of the controversy surrounding Chadha's voter registration and the political accusations between the BJP and AAP.