Election strategist Prashant Kishore’s name is registered in the voter lists of two states – Bihar and West Bengal. This is a violation of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. His team has claimed to have applied to remove the name of Bengal.
Patna: Just before the voting for the first phase of Bihar Assembly elections 2025, election strategist and head of ‘Jan Suraj’ Prashant Kishore (PK) seems to be in big legal trouble. It has been shockingly revealed from the records of the Election Commission that Prashant Kishor’s name is simultaneously registered in the voter lists of two states, West Bengal and Bihar, which is a direct violation of the Representation of the People Act, 1950.
Where is PK’s name recorded?
According to the reports, Prashant Kishore is reported to be registered as a voter at two places.
- West Bengal (Kolkata): His name is registered at 121, Kalighat Road, Kolkata. This address and area is very important because 121, Kalighat Road is the head office of Trinamool Congress (TMC). This area falls in Bhawanipur assembly constituency of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Prashant Kishor worked as an election strategist for TMC in the 2021 Bengal Assembly elections. His polling station was St. Helen’s School, B. It has been mentioned as Ranishankari Lane.
- Bihar: His second registration is at Bihar address, although it is public knowledge that he is active in Bihar during his ‘Jan Suraj’ Yatra and is calling it as his work area. His name is registered in the voter list of Konar village located in Rohtas district, which is his ancestral village.
Violation of Representation of the People Act
This matter has become serious because Section 17 of the Representation of the People Act clearly states that the name of any person cannot be registered in more than one constituency. Similarly, Section 18 also ensures that no person is registered as a voter twice in the same area. Under the law, if a voter changes his place of residence, he has to apply by filling Form 8 to remove the name from the old place.
If it is proved that Prashant Kishor has knowingly registered his name in both the states and did not apply for deletion of the old name as per the rules, then it could give rise to legal action. According to legal experts, in this case the Election Commission can also take action to disqualify him.
Team PK’s clarification and CPM’s allegations
Prashant Kishore himself has not given any reaction on this controversy. However, a senior member of his team ‘Jan Suraj’ has clarified that, “After the Bengal elections, Prashant Kishore had made a voter card in Bihar and has also applied to cancel the Bengal card. It is under process.” However, the team could not clarify whether Bengal’s nomination was canceled or not.
Meanwhile, CPM (CPIM) has claimed that they had raised this issue with the Election Commission only last year. CPM leader Biswajit Sarkar said, “We had written a letter to the Election Commission saying that Prashant Kishor is not a resident here, hence his name should be removed from the voter list.”
Case stuck in the middle of EC’s big campaign
This controversy has come to light at a time when the Election Commission (EC) is busy identifying duplicate voters under the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) campaign of voter lists across the country. In Bihar alone, 68.66 lakh names have been removed during this campaign, out of which 7 lakh were voters who were found registered at two places. Now everyone’s eyes are on what action Prashant Kishor’s legal team takes on this controversy that broke out just before the Bihar elections and what decision the Election Commission takes in this matter.