Chandigarh: A fresh political row has broken out in Punjab after BJP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha’s name was marked as “shifted” in the state’s draft voter list prepared during the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR).
Chadha, who was earlier with the Aam Aadmi Party before joining the BJP in April 2026, has questioned how his name could be marked as shifted when he has been registered as a voter in Punjab. He has alleged that the move is politically motivated and accused his former party of targeting him.
Chadha’s name is registered in Mohali. Raising questions over the deletion, he has also referred to the Election Commission’s SIR guidelines, particularly the provision dealing with elected representatives whose names are flagged during the revision.
The BJP leader has said he will use the claims and objections process to challenge the status of his name.
AAP, however, has rejected the allegation of political interference. The party has pointed out that the revision of electoral rolls is an Election Commission exercise and that the Punjab government does not decide which names remain on the voter list.
A senior state government official has also said the government has no role in the process of adding or removing individual names from the electoral rolls.
The controversy comes as Punjab goes through one of its biggest voter list revisions in recent years. The draft rolls released during the SIR exercise left out more than 20.66 lakh names, accounting for around 9.63% of the state’s electorate.
According to the Election Commission’s classification, the deleted entries include voters who were found to have permanently shifted, deceased voters, people who could not be traced or were absent, and duplicate entries.
Chadha’s case, however, is not yet closed. The list currently in question is a draft electoral roll, not the final voter list. Voters whose names have been excluded or flagged can submit claims and objections, with the deadline set for September 12.
The Election Commission will examine these claims before publishing the final electoral roll.
For Chadha, the episode has opened another front in his political battle with AAP, the party that sent him to the Rajya Sabha in 2022. AAP, meanwhile, maintains that the issue is part of the routine electoral roll revision and has nothing to do with political vendetta.
For now, the bigger question is whether Chadha’s name will be restored to the final Punjab electoral roll. That answer will come only after the claims and objections process is completed.
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