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The Election Commission of India has issued a show-cause notice to poll strategist and Jan Suraaj Party leader Prashant Kishor after reportedly finding that his name appears on the electoral rolls of both Bihar and West Bengal.
The notice, served by the Returning Officer of Bihar’s Kargahar Assembly Constituency in Sasaram, Rohtas district, cites Section 17 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which prohibits an individual from being registered as a voter in more than one constituency.
According to the notice, Kishor is listed as a voter in Part 367 (Middle School, Konar, North Section) in Kargahar under polling booth number 621, with EPIC (voter ID) number 1013123718.
His name allegedly also appears in the electoral roll of the Bhabanipur Assembly Constituency in West Bengal, with a polling station at St Helen School, B Ranishankari Lane.
The notice warns that violation of this provision may attract penalties under Section 31 of the Act, including up to one year's imprisonment, a fine, or both. Kishor has been asked to explain within three days how his name came to be listed in two separate state electoral rolls.
The development comes shortly after the Election Commission completed its Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across Bihar. The exercise aimed to identify and remove duplicate or ineligible entries ahead of the state elections.
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The final voter list, published earlier this month, features over 7.4 crore electors, including about 14 lakh first-time voters, according to EC data.
Kishor, who has previously worked as an election strategist for several major political parties, including the Trinamool Congress, is now leading his Jan Suraaj Party in Bihar.
Over the past year, he has been conducting padyatras and public outreach campaigns, presenting his party as an alternative to both the NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc.
The notice to Kishor comes amid an increasingly charged political atmosphere in Bihar, which will go to the polls in two phases on November 6 and 11, with vote counting scheduled for November 14. Kishor has not yet commented publicly on the Election Commission’s notice.
