Poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor, whose Jan Suraaj Party (JSP) is currently contesting the Bihar Assembly elections, has reportedly been found to be simultaneously enrolled as a voter in two different states—West Bengal and Bihar.
The dual registration has become a point of contention, particularly given that the Election Commission of India (ECI) recently concluded a major Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar to remove such duplicate entries.
Details of the Dual Registration
| State | Constituency | Address/Polling Station | Context |
| Bihar | Kargahar Assembly (under Sasaram Parliamentary) | Polling Station: Madhya Vidyalay, Konar (his paternal village in Rohtas district). | Kishor’s current political base, where he is leading the Jan Suraaj Party. |
| West Bengal | Bhabanipur Assembly (CM Mamata Banerjee’s seat) | Address: 121 Kalighat Road (houses the Trinamool Congress office). Polling Station: St Helen School on B Ranishankari Lane. | Kishor worked as a political consultant for the TMC during the 2021 Assembly elections. |
Legal and Political Ramifications
1. Violation of Electoral Law
The simultaneous enrollment in multiple constituencies is a violation of the Representation of the People Act, 1950:
- Section 17 explicitly states that “no person shall be entitled to be registered in the electoral roll for more than one constituency.”3
- Section 18 prohibits a person from being registered more than once even in the electoral roll of the same constituency.4
2. Status of Cancellation Application
A senior member of Prashant Kishor’s team acknowledged the situation, stating:
- Kishor became a voter in Bihar after the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections.5
- He has since applied to have his Bengal voter card cancelled, though the current status of that application remains unclear.6
The Chief Electoral Officer of Bihar, Vinod Singh Gunjiyal, has not commented on the queries regarding the matter.7
3. Political Reactions
- BJP IT Cell Head Amit Malviya dismissed the controversy’s impact, stating that if Kishor’s party had a “real presence in Bihar,” the dual registration “would have been a major controversy.” He then criticized the Opposition for “hypocrisy.”
- The issue of Kishor’s Bengal voter registration is not new.8 During the Lok Sabha polls last year, the CPI(M) had objected to his enrollment at the Kalighat Road address, arguing he was not a resident there and that his name should be removed.9
- The local TMC councillor of ward number 73, Kajari Banerjee (CM Mamata Banerjee’s sister-in-law), confirmed that 121 Kalighat Road is the TMC party office, and Kishor “used to visit and stay in that building” while working with the party, but she was “not sure whether he enrolled [as a voter] from here or not.”10
4. The Broader Context of Electoral Clean-up
The report highlights that the issue of duplicate entries on electoral rolls is “by no means rare.” The Election Commission had cited it as a key reason for conducting the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
- The SIR exercise in Bihar, which concluded on September 30, led to the removal of approximately 68.66 lakh electors in total.11
- Out of these removals, 7 lakh entries were specifically identified as electors registered at more than one place.12
- Despite this major effort, officials admit that some duplicate entries could still remain on the rolls.13