Trouble for Prashant Kishor? EC issues notice to Jan Suraaj founder for being registered as voter in 2 states

The Election Commission of India on Tuesday sent a notice to Jan Suraaj founder 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.

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."

In West Bengal, Kishor is registered as a voter in Kolkata's 121, Kalighat Road, as per official documents accessed by PTI.

This is the address of the Trinamool Congress headquarters of the Bhabanipur Assembly constituency, its MLA being 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, during the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, worked as a poll strategist for the TMC.

The notice sent to Kishor refers to Section 31 of Representation of 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.

"As per 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," the notice told the Jan Suraaj Chief.

Kishor, when asked about the notice sent to him, told ANI, "I am a voter from the Kargahar Assembly constituency since 2019. For two years, when I was in Kolkata, I had made a voter ID card there. Since 2021, my voter ID has been for the Kargahar Assembly constituency. If the ECI is saying that my name is enrolled as an elector in other places as well, then why are they troubling everyone by carrying out the SIR? I have nothing to do with the notice issued by the ECI..."

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 Feburary, 2026.

The SIR exercise began with Bihar, and is now being done in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.

Among these, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry will be going for Assembly elections in 2026.