Notice issued to Kishor over name in voter lists of Bihar, Bengal
Patna/Kolkata (PTI): Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor was on Tuesday served with a notice over his name being reportedly registered as a voter in his home state Bihar, as well as adjoining West Bengal.
However, the former political strategist stuck to his guns, asserting that the onus was on EC, which "claims to have purified electoral rolls in Bihar through SIR", to have done the needful in his case.
The notice has been issued by the district election office in Rohtas district of Bihar, where Kishor has been registered as a voter in Kargahar assembly segment. He has been asked to respond within three days.
According to official records, Kishor is enrolled as a voter in West Bengal at 121, Kalighat Road, the address of the Trinamool Congress headquarters in Kolkata's Bhabanipur assembly constituency, which is Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee's seat, an election official in West Bengal said.
"His polling station is listed as St Helen School on B Ranishankari Lane," the official added.
During the 2021 assembly elections in West Bengal, Kishor had worked as a political consultant for the TMC
In case of a change of address, a person must apply for inclusion of his name in the new place after filling up Form 8, which is a declaration that he has shifted base and consents to deletion from the voters' list at the earlier place of residence.
The notice issued by DEO, Rohtas, from the district headquarters of Sasaram, has cited a report published in a leading English daily, which has pointed out the anomaly in the case of Kishor.
The notice points out that "Section 31 of the Representation of People Act" prohibits a person from having his name enrolled as a voter at more than one place, and that violation of the provision was "punishable with imprisonment for one year, or fine, or both".
However, Kishor, who was away in Araria district for assembly poll campaign, remained defiant.
Speaking to reporters, he said, "I have been a voter in Kargahar since 2019. Since I lived in Kolkata for a couple of years, I got enrolled as a voter there as well. The EC has bragged about purifying the electoral rolls in Bihar during SIR. Why did it not delete my name from one of the places?"
Indirectly charging the EC with acting at the behest of the BJP, which rules the Centre, Kishor said, "The Election Commission cannot bully me through its notice. Nor can the BJP, which is watching its leaders cower after their wrongdoings were exposed by me. The party is in power in Bihar as well as at the Centre. I challenge it to try all the aces up its sleeve."
Meanwhile, the ruling NDA as well as the opposition INDIA bloc in Bihar, where Kishor's foray into electoral politics has vexed both rival formations, latched on to the opportunity.
Neeraj Kumar, MLC and spokesperson of JD(U), which is headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, told PTI, "It is amusing that Prashant Kishor, who has all his establishments in Delhi, and hails from Bihar, chose to get registered as a voter in West Bengal. Since when did becoming a poll strategist necessitate your being a voter in the state you are providing your services?"
The JD(U) leader added, "We suspect Kishor had tried to strike a deal with Banerjee, that after her victory in the 2021 polls, she would get him elected to the Rajya Sabha. To become a member of the Upper House in Parliament he needed to be a resident of the state concerned. But the Trinamool Congress chief must have snubbed him after returning as the chief minister. So, in a sulk, he might have staged the drama of retiring from the consultancy business."
Notably, after Banerjee retained power in the last assembly polls with a thumping majority, Kishor had announced that he was hanging his boots as a political strategist.
A few months later, he launched a campaign 'Baat Bihar Ki', which got shelved after he was dragged into an Intellectual Property Rights case.
He made a comeback in 2022, when he launched a 3,500-km-long padayatra, naming his campaign 'Jan Suraaj', which culminated in the formation of a party last year.
State BJP spokesperson Neeraj Kumar came out with a strongly worded statement, accusing Kishor of "no minor oversight, but a heinous crime" and suspected that the Jan Suraaj Party founder was involved "in a vile conspiracy with the ruling TMC in West Bengal to undermine Bihar elections".
The BJP leader urged the Election Commission to launch an "immediate and rigorous investigation" against Kishor, whom he counted as among "political brokers and deal makers who trample upon democracy in their hunger for power".
RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari said, "The episode completely exposes the farce that the SIR has been in Bihar, and which is now being carried across the country. Several instances of names of leaders belonging to the ruling NDA, registered as voters at more than one place, have come to the fore."
"Now, Prashant Kishor, whom we suspect of working, clandestinely, for the BJP-led coalition, has joined the list. Let him come forth with an explanation," he added.
The EC has acknowledged that duplication of voter entries is a recurring issue and cited it as one reason for launching the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls throughout the country.
The SIR, which started in Bihar, was completed with the publication of updated rolls on September 30, resulting in the removal of about 68.66 lakh entries, including roughly seven lakh cases of voters registered in multiple places.
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Siddaramaiah in 'helpless situation', under some 'compulsion', claims Cong MLA Rajanna
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Bengaluru (PTI): Amid claims that Siddaramaiah's confidants are being targeted within the ruling Congress in Karnataka, following recent actions against some party leaders, senior MLA K N Rajanna on Friday alleged that the chief minister is "helpless" and under some "compulsion" as he is not standing up to defend his people.
The comments from the former minister, who is considered close to Siddaramaiah, came after Congress took action against some of its minority community leaders--considered close to the CM--following allegations of an internal conspiracy against the party candidate in the Davanagere South bypoll held on April 9.
Rajanna himself was sacked from the Ministry last August on the instructions of the party high command, following his alleged comments criticising top party leader Rahul Gandhi's "vote theft" charge.
"There will be vested interests in the party who will try to conspire against those who have been loyal to the party and want the party to grow for the welfare of the people. Nothing can be done about it. What we expect from our chief minister is that when such a situation arises, he should stand strong, but he is not standing and that is a sad thing," Rajanna said in response to a question whether Siddaramaiah's followers were being targeted in Congress.
Speaking to reporters here, he said, "... I don't know what his thinking is. But we did not expect such a helpless situation from Siddaramaiah."
When asked who had made Siddaramaiah helpless, the former minister said, "I won't say who, you understand it yourself."
"People are saying that those close to Siddaramaiah are being targeted...I don't know what compulsions Siddaramaiah has. If he tells, we can know, but he won't say. I don't know under what compulsion he is following this neutrality," he said, adding that the CM is helpless and a person becomes "helpless" when his/her voice shrinks.
The Congress recently suspended MLC K Abdul Jabbar from the party's primary membership and relieved another MLC Naseer Ahmed from the post of chief minister's political secretary. This action came after a group of Muslim leaders accused members of their own party of "conspiracy" to defeat the official candidate in Davanagere South.
Following the action against Jabbar and Naseer Ahmed, speculation is that Housing Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan may also face action during the next cabinet rejig, as these three wanted a Muslim to get the bypoll ticket in Davanagere South, which the party gave to the late MLA Shamanur Shivashankarappa's grandson Samarth Mallikarjun. They also did not actively participate in campaigning.
Citing a Kannada saying that there is no punishment for the mistakes committed by the King, Rajanna, in what seemed to be a veiled dig at Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, asked, "Does sharing a stage with a person (referring to Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev) who said, 'Who is Rahul Gandhi? I don't know,' not amount to indiscipline?"
Referring to AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge's statement on whether poverty could be ended by taking a dip in the Ganga at Prayagraj, he said, "...but this person (again referring to Shivakumar) goes there and compliments UP CM Yogi Adityanath for arrangements made for the Kumbh Mela. He also goes to Ambani family marriage, while Rahul Gandhi did not even accept the invitation."
"I'm not saying that action should be taken against this person too, but the party will have to observe these things also," he added.
Rajanna further pointed out that no action was taken when veteran Congress leader and late MLA from Davanagere South Shamanur Shivashankarappa made a speech seeking votes for BJP candidate B Y Raghavandra during Shivamogga Lok Sabha polls, and asked if this did not amount to indiscipline.
"The same people were at the helm then (referring to Shivakumar as KPCC chief), even a verbal warning was not given to him (Shivashankarappa)," he said, adding that, similarly no action was taken when Samarth Shamanur filed his nomination in Davanagere South before the party announced its candidate for Davanagere South-- that was also an act of indiscipline.
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