Patna/Kolkata — Poll strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor has been found listed as a voter in both Bihar and West Bengal, an election official revealed on Tuesday. Kishor’s Jan Suraaj Party is currently contesting the Bihar Assembly elections.
According to official records, Kishor’s name appears on the electoral roll in West Bengal at 121, Kalighat Road — the address of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) headquarters in Kolkata’s Bhabanipur constituency, which is also Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s seat. His designated polling station there is St. Helen School on B Ranishankari Lane, the official said.
Kishor, who had served as a political consultant for the TMC during the 2021 West Bengal Assembly elections, is also registered as a voter in Bihar’s Kargahar Assembly segment under the Sasaram parliamentary constituency in Rohtas district. His polling booth there is Madhya Vidyalaya, Konar, according to the records.
The election official cited Section 17 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which prohibits any individual from being registered as a voter in more than one constituency. Section 18 further restricts multiple entries within a single constituency. Voters who change their residence are required to file Form 8 to transfer their enrolment, he explained.
The Election Commission of India (EC) has acknowledged that duplication of voter entries remains a persistent issue. It recently launched a Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls nationwide to address this problem. In Bihar, the SIR concluded with the publication of updated rolls on September 30, which led to the removal of around 68.66 lakh duplicate entries, including approximately seven lakh cases where individuals were registered in multiple locations.
