EC notice to Prashant Kishor over dual voter registration in Bihar and Bengal

During the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal, Kishor had worked as a political consultant for the TMC.

The Election Commission on Tuesday sent a notice to Jan Suraaj Party chief Prashant Kishor for being enrolled as a voter in both Bihar and West Bengal.

The Jan Suraaj chief has been asked to submit his response within three days, officials said on Tuesday.

According to official records, Kishor is enrolled as a voter in West Bengal at 121, Kalighat Road, the address of the Trinamool Congress headquarters in Kolkata's Bhabanipur assembly constituency. It is also  Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee's seat. "His polling station is listed as St Helen School on B Ranishankari Lane," the official added.

During the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal, Kishor had worked as a political consultant for the TMC.

Kishor is registered at his native place Kargahar assembly segment under Sasaram parliamentary constituency in Rohtas district of Bihar, the poll official told PTI, adding that his polling booth is Madhya Vidyalaya, Konar.

Further talking about the matter, the poll official referred to Section 17 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 under which no individual can be registered as a voter in more than one constituency.

"Section 18, meanwhile, prohibits multiple entries within the same constituency," he said.

In case of a change of address, a person must apply for inclusion of his name in the new place after filling up Form 8, which is a declaration that he has shifted base and consents to deletion from the voters' list at the earlier place of residence.

When asked about the alleged irregularity, 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, however, evaded a direct reply to a pointed query as to whether Kishor had applied for deletion of his name from the voters' list in West Bengal, prior to applying for inclusion in the electoral roll of Bihar. "Prashant Kishor is an educated man. He understands his responsibilities well. That he was stationed in West Bengal earlier, as a poll strategist for Chief Minister 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," he added.

Meanwhile, the ruling NDA as well as the opposition INDIA bloc in Bihar, where Kishor's foray into electoral politics has vexed both rival formations, latched on to the opportunity.

Neeraj Kumar, MLC and spokesperson of JD(U), which is headed 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?"

The JD(U) leader added, "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. To become a member of the Upper House in Parliament he needed to be a resident of the state concerned. But the Trinamool Congress chief must have snubbed him after returning as the chief minister. So, in a sulk, he might have staged the drama of retiring from the consultancy business." Notably, after Banerjee retained power in the last assembly polls with a thumping majority, Kishor had announced that he was hanging his boots as a political strategist.

A few months later, he launched a campaign 'Baat Bihar Ki', which got shelved after he was dragged into an Intellectual Property Rights case.

He made a comeback in 2022, when he launched a 3,500-km-long padayatra, naming his campaign 'Jan Suraaj', which culminated in the formation of a party last year.

State BJP spokesperson Neeraj Kumar came out with a strongly worded statement, accusing Kishor of "no minor oversight, but a heinous crime" and suspected that the Jan Suraaj Party founder was involved "in a vile conspiracy with the ruling TMC in West Bengal to undermine Bihar elections".

The BJP leader urged the Election Commission to launch an "immediate and rigorous investigation" against Kishor, whom he counted as among "political brokers and deal makers who trample upon democracy in their hunger for power".

RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari said, "The episode completely exposes the farce that the SIR has been in Bihar, and which is now being carried across the country. Several instances of names of leaders belonging to the ruling NDA, registered as voters at more than one place, have come to the fore."