Two Voter Registrations For Prashant Kishor: Election Commission Issues Notice
Political strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has been found enrolled as a voter in two different states — West Bengal and Bihar — prompting the Election Commission of India (ECI) to issue an official notice seeking his explanation within three days.
The development comes days before the Bihar Assembly elections in which Kishor’s party, Jan Suraaj, is contesting for the first time.
Kishor’s name appeared in the latest special summary revision of electoral rolls for both states, reported The Indian Express. In West Bengal, he is listed in the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency, the seat held by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, with the address recorded as 121 Kalighat Road, the location of the Trinamool Congress office in Bhabanipur.
His designated polling station is recorded as St Helen School on B Ranishankari Lane (reports give two nearby polling locations in different briefings).
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In Bihar, Kishor is registered as a voter in the Kargahar Assembly constituency under the Sasaram parliamentary segment in Rohtas district.
His polling station in Bihar is listed as Madhya Vidyalaya, Konar — Konar being the village linked to Kishor’s paternal family. Kishor was born in Arrah in Bihar.
The ECI’s move followed media reports of the dual entries. The Returning Officer for Kargahar issued a letter to Kishor — now leader of Jan Suraaj — asking him to explain why his name appears in more than one constituency.
The notice gives Kishor three days to submit his clarification, a procedural step the poll body follows when duplicate registrations are reported.
Under Section 17 of the Representation of the People Act, a person is not entitled to be registered in the electoral roll for more than one constituency. Multiple registrations can undermine the integrity of electoral rolls and may allow duplicate voting if not corrected.
The ECI has repeatedly identified duplicate enrollments as a problem. During its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, the commission removed large numbers of electors from draft rolls; official tallies cited during the exercise showed roughly 68 lakh electors were removed from draft lists, of whom about 7 lakh were registered at more than one place. The SIR and similar drives are intended to tighten the rolls ahead of major polls.
Instances of political figures appearing on more than one electoral roll are not unprecedented. The issue sparked controversy in August when RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav was reported to have had two voter ID cards.
Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Kumar Sinha was also reported to be registered in two assembly constituencies, and the poll body had sent notices in those cases as well. The ECI’s current notice to Kishor follows the same routine practice of seeking an explanation and then deciding whether to remove one of the entries.
Prashant Kishor first rose to national prominence as a poll strategist. He worked with the Trinamool Congress (TMC) as a consultant in the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections and played a role in Mamata Banerjee’s re-election campaign. That association is reflected in the Bengal entry that lists the TMC office address.
Kishor later launched his own political movement, Jan Suraaj, and is now actively involved in Bihar politics. Jan Suraaj is contesting the Bihar Assembly elections for the first time this year, making the timing of the electoral-roll notice politically sensitive. As of the latest reports, Kishor has not publicly commented on the dual-registration reports or on the ECI notice.
