The Election Commission of India on Tuesday issued a notice to Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor for allegedly being registered as a voter in two states — Bihar and West Bengal — and sought an explanation within three days.
According to officials, the returning officer of Bihar’s Kargahar assembly constituency sent the notice on Tuesday after reports suggested that Kishor’s name appears in the electoral rolls of both states.
“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,” the communication said.
In West Bengal, the political strategist-turned-politician is registered as a voter in the Bhabanipur assembly constituency — the sitting seat of chief minister Mamata Banerjee — which comes under the Kolkata Dakshin parliamentary constituency. Kishor’s address is mentioned as 121 Kalighat Road, where the office of ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) is located in Bhabanipur. Kishor had worked as a key political consultant for the TMC during the 2021 West Bengal assembly polls.
According to the communication, Kishor is registered as a voter in the Kargahar assembly segment under the Sasaram parliamentary constituency in Rohtas district of Bihar, with Madhya Vidyalaya, Konar listed as his polling station.
{{/usCountry}}According to the communication, Kishor is registered as a voter in the Kargahar assembly segment under the Sasaram parliamentary constituency in Rohtas district of Bihar, with Madhya Vidyalaya, Konar listed as his polling station.
{{/usCountry}}Responding to the development, Kishor said: “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...”
According to officials, EC issues such notices when duplicate entries are detected during the verification process. Individuals are required to respond within a prescribed time before any corrective action is taken, including deletion of duplicate entries from the rolls.
In recent months, EC had issued similar notices to several political leaders over discrepancies in voter registration. In August this year, the poll body issued a notice to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav and asked him to surrender one of his Electoral Photo Identity Cards (EPICs) after discrepancies were found in the numbers he presented publicly. EC stated that one of the EPIC numbers shown by Yadav did not match its records and sought clarification. While Yadav did not issue an official response to the commission, in a press conference following the notice, he had blamed EC for issuing him two EPIC cards, saying: “Poll authorities fault me for their mistake by issuing me notice for 2 EPIC numbers.”
EC also issued a notice to Bihar deputy chief minister Vijay Kumar Sinha after Tejashwi Yadav alleged that the BJP leader held two voter IDs. The commission directed Sinha to provide an explanation and confirm his correct registration details.