AAP rejects Raghav Chadha's vendetta claim over Punjab voter list deletion
Synopsis
Raghav Chadha's name turning up on Punjab's voter deletion list has ignited a three-way political fight: Chadha blames AAP, AAP blames the BJP-run Centre, and Congress uses the episode to relitigate mass voter deletions in Delhi and Maharashtra — raising questions about the SIR process that go far beyond one MP's missing entry.
Key Takeaways
Raghav Chadha's name was removed from Punjab's draft electoral rolls under the Election Commission's SIR exercise , with the reason listed as 'permanently shifted' .
He is among 20.66 lakh voters — about 9.7% of Punjab's pre-SIR electorate — whose names have been deleted from the draft rolls.
AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar denied any state government role, attributing the SIR process entirely to the BJP -led Centre via the Election Commission.
Congress MP Manoj Kumar demanded cancellation of Delhi and Maharashtra elections if large-scale wrongful deletions are confirmed, and called for judicial intervention.
AAP claimed it had learnt through a newspaper report that Chadha was attempting to shift his voter registration from Punjab to Delhi .
The electoral rolls remain at draft stage ; Chadha has said he is pursuing remedies under the SIR guidelines.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Thursday dismissed allegations of political vendetta made by Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha after his name was removed from Punjab's draft electoral rolls under the Election Commission of India's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise. AAP maintained that the state government has no role in the SIR process, squarely attributing it to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre operating through the Election Commission.
How Chadha's Name Ended Up on the Deletion List
Chadha's name appeared in the ASDD (Absent, Shifted, Deceased, and Duplicate) list published on 13 August, with the reason recorded as 'permanently shifted'. He is among 20.66 lakh voters — roughly 9.7 per cent of Punjab's pre-SIR electorate — whose names have been struck from the draft rolls. Chadha, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Punjab as an AAP candidate in 2022 before recently joining the BJP, said his voter ID is registered in Mohali and questioned why he had been classified as 'shifted'. He noted the rolls remain at draft stage and said he was already pursuing remedies available under the SIR guidelines.
Chadha's Allegations and AAP's Rebuttal
'This does not seem like a mere clerical mistake. This is a clear case of political vendetta,' Chadha said in a detailed social media post, alleging that the AAP government was deploying state administrative machinery against those who had left the party. 'Ever since I left the corrupt Aam Aadmi Party, its leadership has been burning with anger,' he added.
AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar flatly rejected this framing. 'Everyone knows that the SIR process is being conducted by the BJP government through the Election Commission; the state government has no role in this. Giving such a statement is just to highlight their petty politics. They should ask this question to the BJP, and they should tell people whether they actually live in Punjab, Delhi, or Mumbai,' she said. Kakkar also questioned why the deletion of ordinary voters' names did not attract similar attention, noting that 46 lakh names were removed in Delhi without comparable public outcry.
Congress Joins the Attack — From a Different Angle
Congress MP Manoj Kumar used the episode to revisit the broader voter-deletion controversy, noting that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had earlier raised alarms about large-scale voter deletions. 'What will Raghav Chadha ji say now? Earlier, when our Rahul Gandhi was saying that something wrong was happening, he was jumping around and making statements,' Kumar said, challenging Chadha to account for his earlier silence on the issue.
Kumar went further, questioning the validity of recent elections conducted on rolls that may have contained erroneous deletions. 'The Maharashtra election was held on these two crore votes, and the Delhi election was held on these 44 lakh votes. If you have deleted the names of these 44 lakh voters saying that they were included wrongly, then the Election Commission should answer: if 44 lakh votes were cast in the Delhi election, then this election itself should be cancelled,' he said. He also called for judicial intervention, urging courts to take cognisance of the matter.
Congress MP Dharamvira Gandhi commented briefly on Chadha's political journey, alleging that Chadha had left AAP for personal political interests before joining the BJP.
The Wider SIR Controversy
The SIR exercise has sparked controversy across multiple states, with opposition parties alleging that the revision process has disproportionately affected voters from marginalised communities and political opponents. AAP's Kakkar highlighted this systemic dimension: 'I feel that at least Raghav Chadha is an MP; when his name was cut, it became such big news. But think about those countless, voiceless people whose names are removed without you even knowing.' The party also claimed, citing a newspaper report, that Chadha had been attempting to shift his voter registration from Punjab to Delhi — a claim that, if substantiated, could explain the 'permanently shifted' classification.
What Happens Next
The electoral rolls remain at draft stage, and Chadha has indicated he is pursuing objections through the prescribed SIR remedial process. The Election Commission of India has not issued a public response to the specific allegations. With multiple parties now demanding scrutiny of voter deletions in Delhi and Maharashtra, the episode is likely to intensify political pressure on the poll body ahead of any forthcoming state elections.
Point of View
The BJP benefits from Chadha's victimhood narrative, and Congress uses the moment to relitigate its own voter-deletion grievances. What gets lost is the far larger story: 20.66 lakh Punjab voters and 46 lakh Delhi voters whose deletions attracted no comparable outrage. The SIR exercise deserves independent scrutiny not because an MP's name was removed, but because the process appears to lack a transparent, publicly auditable mechanism for error correction — and past electoral rolls controversies in Maharashtra and Delhi suggest this is a systemic failure, not an isolated glitch.
NationPress
3 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was Raghav Chadha's name removed from the Punjab voter list?
Chadha's name was deleted from Punjab's draft electoral rolls under the Election Commission of India's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise, with the reason recorded as 'permanently shifted'. He is among 20.66 lakh voters — around 9.7% of Punjab's pre-SIR electorate — whose names were removed. The rolls are still at draft stage and Chadha has said he is pursuing the remedial process available under SIR guidelines.
What is the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise?
The SIR is an Election Commission of India-led exercise to clean up electoral rolls by identifying and removing entries classified as Absent, Shifted, Deceased, or Duplicate (ASDD). In Punjab alone, the exercise resulted in the deletion of over 20.66 lakh names from the draft rolls published on 13 August.
Why did Raghav Chadha allege political vendetta?
Chadha, who left AAP and joined the BJP, alleged that the AAP-led Punjab government used state administrative machinery to target those who had left the party. He said his voter ID is registered in Mohali and questioned why he was classified as 'permanently shifted', calling it 'a clear case of political vendetta' in a social media post.
How did AAP respond to Chadha's allegations?
AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar denied any state government role in the SIR process, saying it is conducted by the BJP-led Centre through the Election Commission. She also questioned why Chadha had not spoken out when millions of ordinary voters — including 46 lakh in Delhi — had their names removed without similar attention.
What did Congress demand over the voter deletion controversy?
Congress MP Manoj Kumar demanded that elections in Delhi and Maharashtra be cancelled if it is established that large numbers of voters were wrongly included or excluded from the rolls. He also called for courts to take cognisance of the matter and for the Election Commission to answer questions about the validity of elections conducted on those rolls.
