NEW DELHI: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday rejected Congress leader and Patiala MP Dharamvira Gandhi’s claim that his name and those of his family members were missing from Punjab’s draft electoral roll published on August 13.According to an ECI statement, the Lok Sabha member and four of his family members are listed as electors in the Patiala Assembly constituency.“Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, Member of Parliament, as well as his family members, wife Jagdamba Kaushal, daughter Rohani Prashar, daughter-in-law Chahat Sahuja, and son Nabendhu, are very much a part of the Draft Electoral Roll published on 13th August 2026. They are registered as electors in AC No 115 – Patiala, Part No 98, at Serial numbers 44 to 48,” the poll panel said.
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The ECI’s clarification came a day after Dharamvira Gandhi, who was earlier associated with Punjab’s ruling AAP, claimed that his name and those of his family members were missing from the draft electoral roll published as part of the ECI’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in the state, where Assembly elections are due in February 2027.His claim came on the same day that BJP leader Raghav Chadha, another Punjab MP and another former AAP member, was marked as “shifted” in the state’s draft electoral roll. Chadha, who joined the BJP in April, accused his former party of “political vendetta.” AAP rejected the allegation, pointing out that the SIR exercise is conducted by the Election Commission and not by a state government.Earlier, former diplomat Navdeep Suri had also alleged that he faced “difficulties” in “establishing my citizenship” during the Punjab SIR.
