Voter list addition sparks political dispute

BJP Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab Raghav Chadha's name has been added to Delhi's electoral rolls during the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the national capital's electoral rolls, days after he alleged a "political vendetta" behind his deletion from Punjab's draft voter list.

Chadha's name appeared on the electoral roll for booth number 46 in the Rajinder Nagar Assembly constituency, according to reports. Poll officials said Chadha's name was added through the regular process after he submitted a Form 6 application.

The development has triggered questions from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has alleged irregularities in how the entry was made during the SIR exercise. Delhi AAP chief Saurabh Bharadwaj questioned how Chadha's name could be added to the same polling part when the electoral roll had already been frozen for the draft SIR exercise. He also questioned whether the same procedure would be available to all voters.

"If the Election Commission explains this process, we can also tell the same process to the 47 lakh people whose names have been [affected]," Bharadwaj said, as quoted by reports.

Chadha's response

Chadha hit back at his former party, saying the AAP was behaving like an "ex-girlfriend" that had failed to move on. He had earlier said he would follow the SIR process to get his name registered as a voter in Punjab after it was missing from the state's draft electoral roll.

Election officials' explanation

According to PTI, Delhi Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) said Chadha applied for inclusion of his name in Form 6 in AC-39 (Rajinder Nagar) on August 26. The CEO's office clarified that once a Form 6 is approved, the name starts reflecting in the electoral database. Poll officials said the draft roll did not include new electoral registration forms filed during the draft stage, which is why Chadha's name was not in the draft list.

The Indian Express reported that Form 9 lists for Rajinder Nagar from September 1 to September 7 contained 205 applicants, but Chadha's name was not among them. The newspaper also noted that the draft roll for the booth where Chadha's name appeared had the last serial number as 746.

SIR process and legal context

Delhi's electoral roll was frozen between June 16 and August 31 due to the SIR exercise. According to the Election Commission's SIR guidelines, those left out of the draft roll can get back on the rolls by filing a Form 6 during the one-month claims and objections period following the draft publication. Form 7, which deals with objections to voter entries, was not relevant in Chadha's case.

Being a Delhi voter does not make Chadha ineligible to represent Punjab in the Rajya Sabha, as per constitutional provisions.