Ahead Of Bihar Election, Prashant Kishor In Trouble Due To Dual Voter ID Entries In Bengal and Bihar

New Delhi: Ahead of the Bihar Elections 2025, scheduled on November 6, founder of Jan Suraaj and political strategist, Prashant Kishor, has landed in a major controversy. It is to be noted here that the according to the records of Election Commission, his name is registered in the voter lists of Bihar as well as West Bengal. This could lead to some serious legal problem under the above mentioned act.

What is the complete matter?

As per a report of The Indian Express, Prashant Kishor’s name is mentioned in the Kolkata voter list at 121, Kalighat Road, which comes under West Bengal's Bhabanipur constituency. His name is also mentioned in the voter list of Bihar's Konar village. 

What are the legal trouble?

Section 17 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 states that a person cannot be registered in more than one constituency. Meanwhile, Section 18 describe that a person cannot be listed twice within the same constituency. In case of residence change, a person must fill Form 8 to get their name deleted from the old location.

What members of team Prashant Kishor said?

Prashant Kishor's team released a statement which read, “After the Bengal elections, Prashant Kishor got a voter card made in Bihar and applied to cancel the Bengal card." 

What are the reaction from Bengal? 

Kajri Banerjee, sister-in-law of Mamata Banerjee, said that 121 Kalighat Road is the office of Trinamool Congress. Kishor used to come here for party work. She further said, ''I can’t say whether he got his voter card made from here or not.''

What are the measures taken by the Election Commission?

It is worthy to be mentioned here that the Election Commission recently started a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) campaign in order to check and remove duplicate or invalid voter IDs across the nation. After this campaign, just in Bihar, more than 68.66 lakh candidates names have been deleted during SIR process. The data revealed that 7 lakh voters names were found to be registered in more than one location.

What Happens Next for Jan Suraaj?

This controversy comes as a major setback for Kishor and his party Jan Suraaj, just days before Bihar’s first phase of voting. If it is proven that Kishor intentionally registered in both states, the Election Commission could disqualify him and initiate legal action.

For now, all eyes are on how Prashant Kishor responds to the dual voter list controversy, and what impact it may have on his political campaign in Bihar.