Days after he was sent a notice to explain his name appearing in voter lists in two states, Jan Suraaj party founder Prashant Kishor has submitted an application for its deletion in West Bengal, Election Commission sources have said.
The application, they said, was submitted on October 25, just two days before the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) for the state was announced.
After a newspaper report stated that the poll strategist-turned-politician was listed as a voter in ward number 621 in the Maniktala Assembly constituency under the North Kolkata parliamentary constituency as well as in Bihar's Karakat Assembly Constituency, the Election Commission had sent a notice to him on October 28.
"As per Section 17 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, no person shall be registered in the electoral rolls of more than one constituency. Violation of this provision attracts penal action under Section 31 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950, which provides for imprisonment or fine, or both... Please present your explanation within three days," the poll body said in the notice.
Kishor hit back within hours, asking why his name was not deleted during the SIR exercise in Bihar if there was duplication.
"If my name appears in two voter lists, the Election Commission should explain why my name wasn't deleted when SIR was effected in Bihar. My name has been in Karakat since 2019. I went to Bengal for two years in between, so I was a voter there. Why is the Election Commission sending a notice? If it's my fault, arrest me," he had said.
Through his Jan Suraaj party, Kishor is attempting to present a third alternative in Bihar after the NDA and the Mahagathbandhan. Speaking at the NDTV Bihar Power Play Conclave on Saturday, the former poll strategist said his party will either do very well or very badly, winning less than 10 or more than 150 of the state's 243 seats.
Kishor said his party would not ally with anyone else if it failed to get the mandate and would continue its work, adding that he could "give this in writing". Pressed to actually do so, the poll-strategist-turned-politician obliged.
"Hypothetically, if there are 30 MLAs of Jan Suraaj and these 30 are the key to government formation, will the MLAs listen to me? But I can say I will still be honest," he said.
