EC issues notice to Prashant Kishor for being enrolled as voter in both Bihar, Bengal

Kolkata: Poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor figures in the electoral rolls of both Bihar and West Bengal, an election official said on Tuesday. Kishor's Jan Suraaj Party is contesting the assembly elections in Bihar. 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, which is Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee's seat, he said. "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 Kargahar assembly segment under Sasaram parliamentary constituency in Rohtas district of Bihar, the poll official said, 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. Electors are required to file Form 8 to transfer their enrolment when they change residence," he pointed out.

Incidentally, the Election Commission (EC) has acknowledged that duplication of voter entries is a recurring issue and cited it as one reason for launching the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls throughout the country. The SIR, which started in Bihar, was completed with the publication of updated rolls on September 30, resulting in the removal of about 68.66 lakh entries, including roughly seven lakh cases of voters registered in multiple places.