NEW DELHI:Aam Aadmi Party on Tuesday exposed a serious manipulation of electoral rolls by the BJP and the Election Commission through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR). AAP National Media In-Charge Anurag Dhanda revealed that Raghav Chadha was made a Delhi voter through electoral ‘farziwada' (fraud), despite remaining a registered voter in Punjab until September 3.
The AAP National Media In-charge pointed out that Delhi’s draft roll published on August 31 showed 746 voters at the Rajinder Nagar booth, yet Raghav Chadha’s name subsequently appeared as the 747th voter. This, he asserted, was impossible under the stated sequence of the draft roll. With Raghav Chadha himself having claimed on September 3 that he was a Punjab voter and that his name had been deleted from Punjab’s draft roll, AAP has demanded that the Election Commission explain how his vote reached Delhi and whether his EPIC (Electors Photo Identity Card) number remains the same as the Punjab ID.
Addressing a press conference, AAP National Media In-Charge Anurag Dhanda stated, “Openly, BJP’s strong-arm tactics are at play in the SIR. Anyone’s name can be added and anyone’s name can be deleted. There is no process for this, and the things that are necessary do not have to be followed. In the name of SIR, an open business of adding and deleting votes is being carried out, through which an attempt is being made to destroy democracy.”
Recalling Raghav Chadha’s September 3 post, Anurag Dhanda added, “Early in the morning on September 3, Raghav Chadha woke up and put out a long post in which he alleged that the Punjab Government had got his vote deleted. The government has nothing to do with this. The BJP itself says that this is the Election Commission’s job. Raghav Chadha had written that the Aam Aadmi Party Government in Punjab had taken its politics of vendetta all the way to the draft electoral roll.”
He continued, “Raghav Chadha claimed that his vote had been deleted from the draft electoral roll only because he was doing politics against the government there. Raghav Chadha had said that he was a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab and that his voter ID was registered in Mohali, Punjab, yet his name had been shown as ‘shifted’ in the draft electoral roll.”
Presenting a video evidence, he stated, “The ground situation at the place where Raghav Chadha claims to be living or claims to be a voter is clear from this video. On the morning of September 3, Raghav Chadha was saying that his vote had been forcibly deleted and that he lived there. But when we went there and checked, Raghav Chadha was not living in Flat No. 103. Termites were certainly living there. Now, if the termites’ name itself is Raghav Chadha, we do not know.”
“Raghav Chadha himself can clarify this by making that claim. But when it was claimed on September 3 that his vote had been deleted from Punjab, the direct meaning is that he was claiming to have a vote in Punjab. Raghav Chadha himself said that his vote had been removed from the draft roll, that the process was still pending and that he would file a claim in the SIR to get his vote added back to the voter list, ” he added.
Anurag Dhanda emphasised, “Through this, Raghav Chadha has made three things absolutely clear in his own facts. First, he is claiming to be a voter in Punjab. Second, his vote was wrongly deleted. Third, he will follow the entire process and get his vote registered in Punjab itself. All three things prove that Raghav Chadha himself was not considering himself a voter in Delhi. This means he made it clear that he has no vote in Delhi, because a person cannot have a vote in two places at the same time. Raghav Chadha made it clear on the morning of September 3 that he has no vote in Delhi, that he is a voter in Punjab and that he wants to remain there.”
Pointing to the Delhi draft roll, he added, “Before this, the draft roll in Delhi was released on August 31. Raghav Chadha’s name does not appear anywhere in the draft roll issued for Rajinder Nagar. A total of 746 voters are shown at his booth in that list, and the summary also makes it clear that there are 746 voters at this booth. Raghav Chadha’s name is not among these 746 voters at the Rajinder Nagar booth.”
Explaining the possible routes through which a Delhi vote could have been registered, Anurag Dhanda asserted, “After this, if Raghav Chadha wanted to get his vote registered in Delhi, there were only a few limited ways to do so. First, he could have his vote transferred from Punjab to Delhi. But that did not happen because his vote had been deleted from the draft roll there. He would first have to get his name added there and then have it transferred. Therefore, the vote was not transferred at all. Second, he could already have been a voter in Delhi. But Raghav Chadha himself said that he was a voter in Mohali, Punjab, and that he would get his name corrected there through the SIR and provide proof to get his name added there. The direct meaning is that he was not a voter in Delhi.”
He further pointed out, “The Delhi SIR draft roll also has only 746 names at the Rajinder Nagar booth, and Raghav Chadha’s name is not in it. But the surprising thing is that the information we have, which can also be checked on the Election Commission’s website, shows that if you check today, the same booth in Rajinder Nagar now has 747 voters. This change has been made retrospectively in the draft roll. How can a draft roll be changed retrospectively?”
“When the Election Commission said on August 31 that there were 746 votes at this booth, and that objections had been raised or names deleted elsewhere, for which the Election Commission had separately provided a list, then after that, if someone had an objection, they would have to submit documents or fill Form 6 to get a new vote registered. Or Form 6 may have been filled and a new vote may have been registered. But this could not have been done by September 3 because until September 3, Raghav Chadha was claiming to be a voter in Punjab, ” he stated.
The AAP Media National Incharge explained the relevance of Form 9, stating, “Form 9s are available on the Election Commission’s website, which anyone can go and check. Form 9 means that there is a summary of all the new Form 6 applications filed as of that date. The Election Commission releases this in the evening, showing that these new votes were applied for that day and that anyone can raise an objection. Raghav Chadha’s name does not appear in any Form 9 from September 3 until today. The direct meaning is that he has not got a new name added.”
Asserting that the addition could not have taken place through the prescribed process, he said, “By following any process of the Election Commission, Raghav Chadha’s name could not have been added to the Delhi draft roll with the date of August 31 in any manner. It is simply not possible, because until September 3, he himself was saying that he was a voter in Punjab, that he would get his vote registered there and that he would file his claim there. Meanwhile, the Delhi draft roll had already been released on August 31 and his name was not in it.”
Anurag Dhanda warned, “If a person’s name can be added to the Election Commission’s list from the backend without following any process, then it is completely arbitrary. There is no procedure, rule or process left. There is then no need to fill any form, nor is there any need to delete any form. The Election Commission can add anyone’s name from the backend and remove anyone’s name from the backend. This clearly shows that the entire SIR process is not transparent at all. BJP can openly use the Election Commission to get anyone’s vote deleted and anyone’s vote added at will, without following any process.”
On behalf of the Aam Aadmi Party, Anurag Dhanda demanded, “The Election Commission must clarify this. The Delhi Election Commission must make this clear because the people of the country are watching them. People are watching how an open loot of democracy is taking place in the name of SIR. Therefore, the Election Commission must clarify how, when Raghav Chadha’s name was not in the August 31 draft roll, his name has now appeared at serial number 747 when the website is searched. The summary of the draft roll mentions a total of 746 voters. Once the list of 746 had been released, how did Raghav Chadha’s name come at number 747? Under what process did it come, and when was Form 6 filled for this?”
Questioning the Election Commission further, he stated, “Has the vote been transferred from Punjab? If a vote is transferred from Punjab, the EPIC number does not change and the voter ID remains the same. So, is Raghav Chadha’s EPIC number different from his Punjab voter ID? The Election Commission must clearly place all these things before the people of Delhi and the country because there can be no bigger irregularity and no bigger theft than this in the entire SIR process.”
Concluding the press conference, Anurag Dhanda asserted, “If the Election Commission can directly add anyone’s name to the SIR from the backend, or remove anyone’s name, without following any process or documentation, then this is an open loot of democracy. There must be an impartial investigation into the entire matter. If the process has not been followed, then Raghav Chadha’s vote, which has been wrongly added to the list, should also be removed from the list here, and the entire process of the Election Commission must be strictly followed.”