New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued a notice to Prashant Kishor for being enrolled as a voter in two states — Bihar and West Bengal – which is a violation under the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
The poll strategist-turned-politician, founder of Jan Suraaj Party, is listed at 121 Kalighat Road in Kolkata, the address of Trinamool Congress office in chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s Bhawanipur constituency, according to a report in The Indian Express.
Citing the report, the ECI said in its notice that Kishor’s name was registered in the voter list of “Nirmal Hriday School, Beadon Street, Kolkata” and “also in 209 – Karahgar Assembly Constituency (Part No. 767, Serial No. 621) in Bihar, with voter ID IUJ1323718.”
The ECI pointed out that a person cannot be registered as a voter in more than one constituency, under Section 17 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
“You are requested to clarify within three days regarding your name being registered in more than one constituency,” stated the notice to Kishore, whose party is making its electoral debut in next month’s Bihar Assembly polls.
‘Election Commissioner’s mistake’
Kishor is yet to respond to the dual enrolment issue, but a senior aide dismissed the controversy, calling it a clerical oversight on the part of the poll panel.
“This is the Election Commission’s mistake, not Prashant Kishor’s. He applied for deletion of his Bengal entry after registering in Bihar. If the EC did not act on that, what more could he do?” the aide said.
According to Kishor’s team, he became a voter in Bihar after the last Bengal Assembly election. Kishor had apparently applied to have his Bengal voter card cancelled, but there was no clarification on whether the ECI had processed his request to remove his Bengal voter entry.
Kishor had worked as a political consultant of Trinamool Congress during the 2021 Assembly election in that state.
Kishor has claimed that the Bihar election is a battle between NDA and his party, ruling out Mahagatbandhan’s chances.
BJP’s IT cell head Amit Malviya mocked Kishor’s claim. “If his (Kishor’s) party had any real presence in Bihar, this (dual enrollment) would have been a major controversy. But it isn’t — because Jan Suraj doesn’t matter.”
Malviya accused the Opposition of ‘hypocrisy’ over ‘development.’
“Jan Suraj founder Prashant Kishor is listed as a voter in both West Bengal and Bihar… What’s more telling is that all of Rahul Gandhi’s allies are complicit in ‘Vote Chori.’ The hypocrisy is astounding,” Malviya posted on X.
