Patna: Election Commission of India (ECI) on October 28 served a notice to Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor over his name being reportedly registered as a voter in both his home state Bihar as well as West Bengal.
The notice was issued by the returning officer of the Karaghar constituency asking the Jan Suraaj chief to present his side within three days.
“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 cited a newspaper report that mentioned Kishor’s name enrolled as a registered voter in both Bhabanipur constituency of West Bengal and 209-Kargahar assembly constituency of Bihar.
The Jan Suraaj leader however has dismissed the allegations stating that he has been enrolled as a voter from Bihar’s Kargahar constituency since 2019.
Kishor although admitted that he briefly obtained a voter ID card while staying in Kolkata, his active registration has remained in Kargahar since 2021.
“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.
He added that “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.”
Polling for the Bihar Assembly election will be held in two phases on November 6 and November 11 with announcement of result scheduled for November 14.
The primary contest is likely between the Bharataiya Janata Party and Janata Dal United led NDA and the Grand Alliance of opposition parties led by the Rashtriya Janata Dal and Congress.
Other than the two alliances, Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj party is also claiming stakes on the 243-seats assembly.
