Patna: Prashant Kishor, strategist behind the Jan Suraaj Party, has responded to the Election Commission’s notice regarding his alleged registration as a voter in both Bihar and West Bengal.
Kishor said he has been a voter in Bihar’s Karakhahar Assembly constituency since 2019. “For two years, when I was in Kolkata, I obtained my voter ID there. Since 2021, my voter ID has been for the Karakhahar constituency. If the Election Commission is saying my name is registered in two places, then how was the SIR done in Bihar and why wasn’t my name deleted? Now, if the Election Commission issues a notice, I have nothing to do with it,” he said.
The Election Commission has asked Kishor to respond within three days over alleged electoral violations, citing the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which prohibits dual registration.
A spokesperson for the Jan Suraaj Party, Saurabh Singh, said Kishor had already applied to cancel his West Bengal voter ID and that the commission’s process was still ongoing. “He had registered in West Bengal in 2021 while working for the Assembly elections there. If a person lives in another state for work or business, they can get their name added to the voter list,” Singh said.
