Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor has spoken about the two voter ID cards row as he campaigns in poll-bound Bihar for his newly-launched political party. Kishor, a former election strategist, says he has not broken any law and had registered in Bihar and West Bengal according to the normal process. Deleting multiple entries, Kishor said, is the Election Commission’s job.
“I am a registered voter here in Karghar vidhan sabha since 2019. I have been a voter in West Bengal for two years when I was there. It is a normal process. I came back to Bihar in 2022 and got registered here as a voter,” Kishor told LiveMint in Madhepura district of Bihar during campaigning on October 29.
'Ab election commission usko delete karta nahi hai aur phir kahega ki double entry hai triple entry hai. (Election Commission doesn’t delete the name and then says there is double/triple entry,” he said.
On 28 October, the Election Commission of India sent a notice to Prashant Kishor for allegedly being registered as a voter in two states - Bihar and West Bengal.
Kishor has been given three days to provide an explanation to the poll body.
In West Bengal, Kishor is registered as a voter in Kolkata, at 121 Kalighat Road, as per official documents accessed by PTI.
This is the address of the Trinamool Congress headquarters in the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency, where its MLA is none other than Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee herself.
"His polling station is listed as St Helen School on B Ranishankari Lane," an official told PTI.
Kishor worked as a poll strategist for the TMC during the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections.
This notice to Kishor comes in the wake of the Election Commission announcing dates for conducting Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in 12 states and Union Territories across the country. The final voters' lists are set to be published on 7 February, 2026.
In response to the row, Kishor blamed the poll panel for indulging in political theatrics over the issue. “Yeah to rajnitik shagoofabaazi aap kar rahe hai (You’re the one doing political theatrics). Aap mera EPIC download kar dijiye, Karghar vidhan sabha se aur dekhiye ki mein apne Kunar gaon se voter hun. (You can see in my EPIC that I am a voter in Kunar village,” he said.
The SIR exercise began in Bihar and is now being conducted in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
“Kolkata mein kabhi tha. Agar aap SIR kar rahe hai, naam delete karna aapka kaam hai. Aur hum logon ne pehle bhi application diya hua hai. Ki bhai humne transfer kara lita lekin agar EPIC number integrated hai aur aapne yahan par mujhe voter banaya to apne aap wahan delete hona chahiye. Isi liye to logon ki multiple entry hojati hai. Aur phir batate hain ki voter addition hai, deletion hai, (I was a voter in Kolkata for two years. If you are doing SIR, it’s your job to delete. We also informed EC about registration. EPIC numbers are integrated, hence the multiple names. And then you say voter addition and deletion.
The notice sent to Kishor refers to Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, which prohibits a person from being registered as a voter in more than one place. Violation of said provision is "punishable with imprisonment for one year, or fine, or both," it also says.
The Returning Officer of Bihar's Kargahar Assembly Constituency sent the notice to the poll-strategist-turned-political-leader, saying, "According to a news item published on 28.10.2025, your name is registered in the electoral rolls of Bihar and West Bengal.... Therefore, you should present your side within three days regarding the entry of your name in more than one constituency."
Earlier, Kishor told news agency PTI: “if there’s wrongdoing, then arrest me and prove it.”
