India
BJP Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha has launched a sharp attack on his former party, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), after it questioned how his name appeared in the draft electoral roll for Delhi’s Rajinder Nagar constituency.
Taking a personal swipe at the party he once represented, Chadha compared AAP to a “heartbroken” former lover who has been unable to move on after being dumped.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Chadha said AAP had reached a point where he appeared in its “dreams as a ghost”. He then likened the party to an ex-girlfriend whose boyfriend had moved on with his life.
“To me, the AAP seems like an ex-girlfriend whose boyfriend dumped her and moved on with his life, yet she remains madly in love with me,” Chadha said.
He went on to intensify the metaphor, saying he was concerned that the party could behave like a “heartbroken lover” and harm itself because of its fixation on him.
Chadha’s remarks came after AAP Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj raised questions over the BJP MP’s name appearing in the electoral roll of Assembly Constituency-39, Rajinder Nagar.
Bharadwaj claimed that Chadha’s name appeared as the 747th voter at a polling booth in Rajinder Nagar, despite the draft electoral roll published on August 31 showing 746 voters at the booth.
“This is not merely an allegation; it is a fact,” Bharadwaj said, questioning how Chadha’s vote had allegedly “suddenly reappeared” at the booth.
The AAP leader sought an explanation from both the Election Commission and Chadha, asking whether a specific procedure had been followed to add the BJP MP’s name to the roll.
The dispute, however, received a clarification from the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) of Delhi.
According to the CEO’s statement issued on Thursday, Chadha’s name was added to the electoral roll of Assembly Constituency-39, Rajinder Nagar, after following the prescribed procedure.
The clarification came after AAP alleged that Chadha’s inclusion in the Delhi electoral roll had taken place without due procedure.
The CEO’s office referred to AAP’s September 8 press conference, where the party had raised the issue and alleged that Chadha’s name had been included in the electoral roll without following the required process.
The electoral-roll controversy comes against the backdrop of Chadha’s political switch from AAP to the BJP, which has since turned the former party colleagues into increasingly vocal political adversaries.
Chadha, who had emerged as one of AAP’s prominent national faces, has repeatedly been at the centre of political attention following his move to the BJP. The latest clash has now shifted the spotlight to Delhi’s electoral rolls, with AAP questioning the circumstances surrounding his voter registration and Chadha responding with a highly personal political jibe.
While AAP has demanded transparency over the addition of his name, the Delhi CEO’s office has maintained that the prescribed procedure was followed.
The exchange therefore pits a political allegation against an official clarification, while Chadha has chosen to answer his former party in characteristically combative terms — turning a dispute over a voter list into another round of political sparring between AAP and its former leader.
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