Prashant Kishor Served Notice Over Dual Voter Registration In Bihar And West Bengal

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor has been served a notice by the district election office in Bihar’s Rohtas district over reports that his name is registered as a voter in both Bihar and West Bengal.

According to PTI, the notice, issued by the Rohtas district election officer, directs Kishor to respond within three days. Official records show that Kishor is listed as a voter in the Kargahar assembly constituency in Bihar, while also being enrolled in West Bengal at 121, Kalighat Road — the address of the Trinamool Congress headquarters in Kolkata’s Bhabanipur constituency, which is Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s seat. His polling station there is St Helen School on B Ranishankari Lane, an election official in West Bengal said.

Kishor had worked as a political consultant for the Trinamool Congress during the 2021 West Bengal assembly elections. Under election rules, a voter changing residence must apply for inclusion at the new address through Form 8, which also serves as a declaration for deletion from the previous electoral roll.

The notice from the Rohtas DEO cites a report in a leading English daily flagging the discrepancy and refers to Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, which prohibits dual voter registration. Violation of this provision is punishable with up to one year’s imprisonment, a fine, or both.

Responding to the matter, Jan Suraaj Party national spokesperson Kumar Saurabh Singh said, “The onus is on the Election Commission. It had launched SIR in Bihar with so much of fanfare. So many names were dropped on the ground of deletion. When they can leave room for a lapse in case of a well-known personality like Prashant Kishor, one can imagine the diligence of the EC elsewhere.”

He declined to confirm whether Kishor had applied for deletion of his name from West Bengal’s voter list before registering in Bihar, adding, “Prashant Kishor is an educated man. He understands his responsibilities well. That he was stationed in West Bengal earlier, as a poll strategist for Mamata Banerjee, is well known. Let the EC approach us if it thinks that there has been wrongdoing on our part. Our legal team will respond.”

The development has drawn reactions from across Bihar’s political spectrum. Neeraj Kumar, JD(U) MLC and spokesperson for the party led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, told PTI, “It is amusing that Prashant Kishor, who has all his establishments in Delhi, and hails from Bihar, chose to get registered as a voter in West Bengal. Since when did becoming a poll strategist necessitate your being a voter in the state you are providing your services?”

He alleged that Kishor may have sought to become a Rajya Sabha member from West Bengal, claiming, “We suspect Kishor had tried to strike a deal with Banerjee, that after her victory in the 2021 polls, she would get him elected to the Rajya Sabha. But the Trinamool Congress chief must have snubbed him after returning as the chief minister.”

After the 2021 polls, Kishor had announced his retirement from political consultancy, later launching the Baat Bihar Ki campaign, which was halted following an intellectual property dispute. He returned in 2022 with a 3,500-km-long padayatra under the ‘Jan Suraaj’ banner, leading to the formal launch of his party last year.

State BJP spokesperson Neeraj Kumar (unrelated) called the alleged dual registration “no minor oversight, but a heinous crime”, accusing Kishor of being “involved in a vile conspiracy with the ruling TMC in West Bengal to undermine Bihar elections”. He urged the Election Commission to initiate an “immediate and rigorous investigation”.

RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari said the case “completely exposes the farce that the SIR has been in Bihar,” alleging that leaders from the ruling NDA have also been found registered in multiple places. “Now, Prashant Kishor, whom we suspect of working, clandestinely, for the BJP-led coalition, has joined the list. Let him come forth with an explanation,” he added.

The Election Commission has acknowledged that duplication of voter entries remains a recurring issue. It cited this as one reason for launching the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls nationwide. The exercise, which began in Bihar, concluded with the publication of updated rolls on 30 September, leading to the deletion of about 68.66 lakh entries, including roughly seven lakh cases of multiple registrations.

(With inputs from PTI)