AAP alleges fraud as Raghav Chadha makes it to Delhi voters rolls

Deleted in Punjab’s special intensive revision, Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha’s name is now available in Delhi’s draft roll. 

The BJP leader’s name is at serial number 747 in part 46 of the Rajinder Nagar assembly, as per Election Commission’s website. The draft roll for part 46 that was published on August 31 had ended with 746 voters. The final roll is set to be published only in November after the objections round.

Chadha was earlier registered as a voter in Punjab’s SAS Nagar constituency, better known as Mohali, and had voted from there during the 2024 Lok Sabha election. He was not part of the draft roll published in Punjab earlier in August and was marked “permanently shifted”. He had called it “vendetta”. The final roll is scheduled to be published on October 12.

This comes days after the Aam Aadmi Party and certain media reports hinted that the BJP leader was trying to get a “backdoor” entry into the voter rolls. The party repeated these allegations on Tuesday, accusing the Election Commission of “farziwada”.

AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bhardwaj said, “The Election Commission committing ‘farziwada’ is nothing new. Most people in the country know that the Election Commission is committing fraud.”

Bhardwaj said that Chadha had told the media on September 3 that his vote had been deleted in Punjab. Chadha, who quit the AAP to join the BJP earlier this year, had said he would try to get himself registered in Punjab. Bhardwaj said AAP was surprised when it found Chadha’s name in Delhi’s electoral rolls.

AAP’s national media In-charge Anurag Dhanda said the episode showed how the SIR process could be “thrown to the winds,” with names being added or deleted without following the prescribed procedure. He questioned how Chadha’s name appeared as the 747th entry in the electoral roll when the August 31 draft roll contained only 746 voters. Seeking the EC’s response, he said the episode raised “grave questions” about the transparency and credibility of the entire SIR exercise.  

Responding to the allegations, the Delhi CEO said that the addition, deletion or modification of an elector's entry can only be carried out on the basis of Forms 6, 7 and 8, respectively, and in accordance with the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, and the Election Commission’s instructions.

The CEO said all Forms 6 submitted for inclusion of names during the pre-SIR period and the period of claims and objections were under process along with Forms 7 and 8. Once approved, additions, deletions and modifications would be reflected in the electoral database. According to the CEO’s office, new additions will be published in a supplementary list on November 4, while modifications and deletions carried out during the claims and objections period of the SIR will be reflected in the updated electoral roll, as per the Election Commission’s schedule.

The CEO’s office also said that around 700 forms, spread across Delhi’s assembly constituencies, had already been approved by Electoral Registration Officers for the inclusion of names as of September 8. 

The Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 provide for changes between the publication of a draft electoral roll and its final publication. Rule 25(4) states that if, at any time between the publication of the revised roll in draft and its final publication, names are directed to be included in the electoral roll under Section 23 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, the Registration Officer (ERO) shall also include those names in the revised roll, unless there is a valid objection. Section 23, meanwhile, allows a person whose name is not included in an electoral roll to apply for inclusion, and requires the ERO to carry out “proper verification of facts” before directing the inclusion of the name.  

Reached for comment, ERO Puneet Patel said he had poor mobile network reception as he was travelling and that he would call back later. 

Newslaundry also spoke to Urmila, media officer in the Delhi CEO office. She said names added through Form 6 would appear online, while the supplementary list would be formally published in November.

When contacted, Delhi Chief Electoral Officer Ashok Kumar said that the electoral roll had been frozen because of the SIR, but names were now being added through Form 6. Asked about the technicalities of the process and Chadha’s specific case, Kumar said the CEO division concerned would provide further information.

Newslaundry contacted Sonal, the BLO of the booth where Chadha’s name now appears in Delhi’s electoral roll. She said she had “no idea about this” and disconnected the call. 

Chadha, who was in Uzbekistan till September 6 to represent the Indian Parliament at the 12th Inter-Parliamentary Union Global Conference of Young Parliamentarians, also responded to the controversy.

In a statement, Chadha said, “I seem to be haunting Arvind Kejriwal and the Aam Aadmi Party. Day and night, all they think about is Raghav Chadha and how to attack me. Ever since I left the corrupt Aam Aadmi Party, its leadership has been unable to cope. They are behaving like a bitter ex who has just been dumped.”

“AAP seems to have opened a full-time department just to target me. Its latest assignment is my voter registration. Their formula is always the same: decide on an allegation first, scramble to find an argument to fit it later. The facts are simple and straightforward. I have followed all applicable ECI guidelines and procedures and availed the prescribed remedies.”

“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.”

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