Jan Suraj Party leader Prashant Kishor, who is all geared up for the forthcoming Bihar Assembly Elections 2025, has landed in a controversy over allegations that he holds dual voter ID cards — one in West Bengal and the other in Bihar.
Following a news report about this, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday issued a notice to Kishore to explain his alleged enrollment as a voter in both West Bengal and Bihar within three days.
Responding to ECI’s notice, the Jan Suraj Party leader clarified that he has been enrolled as a voter from Bihar’s Kargahar Assembly constituency since 2019.
He, however, admitted that he briefly obtained a voter ID card in West Bengal while staying in Kolkata, but asserted that his active registration remains in Kargahar in Bihar. “I am a voter from the Kargahar Assembly constituency since 2019. For two years, while I was in Kolkata, I had applied for a voter ID card there. Since 2021, my voter ID has been for the Kargahar Assembly constituency,” he said.
Questioning the poll body’s procedure, Kishore further said, “If the ECI is saying that my name is enrolled as an elector in other places as well, then why are they troubling everyone by carrying out the SIR? I have nothing to do with the notice issued by the ECI.”
According to the notice issued by the Returning Officer of the Kargahar Assembly Constituency, “As per a news item published on 28.10.2025, your name is registered in the electoral rolls of Bihar and West Bengal…. Therefore, you should present your side within three days regarding the entry of your name in more than one constituency.”
The notice further stated that, as per the news report, Prashant Kishor’s name is registered in West Bengal under the Bhabanipur constituency at the polling station, as well as in the 209-Kargahar Legislative Assembly Constituency.
It is worth noting that the ECI has recently conducted the controversial Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar to overhaul the electoral rolls.