On Tuesday, October 28, 2025, a formal notice was served to Prashant Kishor, the founder of the Jan Suraaj Party, concerning reports that his name appears on voter lists in two different states: his native Bihar and neighboring West Bengal.
The district election office in Rohtas, Bihar, where Kishor is listed as a voter in the Kargahar Assembly segment, issued the notice, demanding a response within three days.
Election officials in West Bengal confirmed that their records show Mr. Kishor registered as a voter at 121, Kalighat Road, the Trinamool Congress headquarters in Kolkata’s Bhabanipur Assembly constituency. This is notably the seat of Chief Minister and TMC supremo, Mamata Banerjee.
His designated polling station is St. Helen School on B. Ranishankari Lane, the official clarified.
It’s a known fact that during the 2021 Assembly elections in West Bengal, Mr. Kishor served as a political consultant for the Trinamool Congress.
Electoral regulations dictate that anyone changing their address must submit Form 8 to register at their new location. This form acts as an official declaration of relocation and authorizes the removal of their name from the previous voter list.
The Rohtas District Election Officer’s notice specifically references a report from a prominent English daily that initially highlighted this discrepancy concerning Mr. Kishor.
The notice emphasizes that Section 31 of the Representation of People Act explicitly forbids individuals from being registered as voters in more than one location. Violating this provision can lead to a penalty of imprisonment for up to one year, a fine, or both.
In response to the alleged irregularity, Kumar Saurabh Singh, the national spokesperson for the Jan Suraaj Party, deflected responsibility onto the Election Commission. He questioned the EC’s diligence, especially after its highly publicized Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, suggesting that if a lapse can occur with a prominent figure like Prashant Kishor, the accuracy of other voter deletions might also be compromised.
However, Singh did not directly answer whether Mr. Kishor had formally requested the removal of his name from West Bengal’s voter list before registering in Bihar.
He further stated, ‘Prashant Kishor is an educated individual who fully comprehends his responsibilities. His previous role as a poll strategist for Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal is widely known. If the Election Commission believes there’s been any wrongdoing, they should contact us, and our legal team will provide a comprehensive response.’
Meanwhile, both the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc in Bihar, both of whom have been challenged by Mr. Kishor’s entry into electoral politics, swiftly capitalized on this development.
Neeraj Kumar, an MLC and spokesperson for the JD(U), led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, expressed amusement, remarking on Kishor’s choice to register in West Bengal despite having all his establishments in Delhi and hailing from Bihar. Kumar questioned the necessity of being a voter in a state merely to provide political consultancy.
The JD(U) leader went on to suggest a possible motive: ‘We suspect Mr. Kishor attempted to secure a deal with Ms. Banerjee for a Rajya Sabha seat after her 2021 victory, which would require him to be a resident of West Bengal. However, it seems the Trinamool Congress chief may have rejected this, leading to his dramatic announcement of retiring from political consultancy in apparent disappointment.’
It’s worth noting that following Ms. Banerjee’s decisive victory in the last Assembly elections, Mr. Kishor had publicly declared his retirement from political strategizing.
Months later, he initiated the ‘Baat Bihar Ki’ campaign, which was subsequently suspended due to an Intellectual Property Rights dispute.
In 2022, Kishor re-emerged with a 3,500-km-long ‘padayatra’ (foot march) called ‘Jan Suraaj,’ which eventually led to the official formation of a political party last year.
State BJP spokesperson Neeraj Kumar issued a strongly worded statement, condemning Kishor’s actions as ‘no minor oversight, but a heinous crime.’ He implied a ‘vile conspiracy’ with West Bengal’s ruling TMC to undermine Bihar’s elections.
The BJP leader called for an ‘immediate and rigorous investigation’ by the Election Commission into Kishor, categorizing him among ‘political brokers and deal makers who trample upon democracy in their hunger for power.’
RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari commented that this incident ‘completely exposes the farce that the SIR has been in Bihar,’ and warned that such issues are now appearing nationwide. He cited other instances of ruling NDA leaders reportedly registered in multiple places.
Tiwari added, ‘Now, Prashant Kishor, whom we suspect of covertly working for the BJP-led coalition, has been added to this list. He should offer a clear explanation.’
The Election Commission has acknowledged that duplicate voter entries are a persistent problem, which was a primary motivation for initiating the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls nationwide.
The SIR, which commenced in Bihar, concluded with the updated rolls published on September 30, leading to the removal of approximately 68.66 lakh entries, including about seven lakh instances of individuals registered as voters in multiple locations.