New Delhi : The Election Commission of India has issued a showcause notice to poll strategist and leader of the Jan Suraaj Party, Prashant Kishor, after finding evidence that his name appears on electoral rolls in both Bihar and West Bengal. Kishor has acknowledged that his name appears in the voter lists of both Bihar and West Bengal, saying the duplication occurred due to the Election Commission’s negligence, not his own.
According to the notice issued by the Returning Officer of the Kargahar Assembly Constituency (in Sasaram, Rohtas district, Bihar), Kishor is listed as a voter in Part 367 (Middle School, Konar, North Section) in Kargahar under polling booth number 621, with EPIC (voter ID) number 1013123718. Under Section 17 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, a person cannot be enrolled as a voter in more than one constituency.
The notice warns that violation of this provision may attract penalties under Section 31 of the Act, including up to one-year imprisonment, a fine, or both. The development comes weeks after the Election Commission completed its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across Bihar, aimed at removing duplicate and ineligible entries before the state elections.
The final voter list, published earlier this month, includes over 7.4 crore electors, with about 14 lakh first-time voters, according to EC data. Kishor, who previously served as an election strategist for several major political parties including the Trinamool Congress, is now spearheading his own Jan Suraaj Party in Bihar. Over the past year, he has been leading padyatras and mass outreach campaigns, positioning his party as an alternative to both the NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc.
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