Prashant Kishor questions EC conduct, alleges advantage to BJP

Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor alleged that "partiality" by the Election Commission had given the BJP an undue advantage. Citing his experiences in the 2021 West Bengal polls and Bankipur, he also questioned the conduct of elections

Muzaffarpur: Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor on Friday joined opposition parties in criticising the Election Commission, alleging that “partiality” by the poll panel had given the ruling BJP an undue “advantage”.

Kishor, the Bankipur MLA, was responding to journalists’ questions about a recent media report that flagged alleged differences within the Election Commission over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

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“Let me point out that I was the first person to have highlighted the fact that the ruling BJP was getting undue advantage of the EC’s partiality. I had said so way back in 2021 after the West Bengal assembly polls,” said Kishor, who had handled the election campaign of the Trinamool Congress led by Mamata Banerjee at the time.

“I had clearly stated that the BJP could win 77 seats because of the EC’s benediction. Had the polls been free and fair, their tally would not have exceeded 50. The EC, by its partiality, has been ensuring that those in a close fight with the BJP ended up tasting defeat and those tipped for a massive victory won only by a modest margin,” he alleged.

Kishor cited his own experience in the Bankipur Assembly constituency as an example.

“I would have won by at least 50,000 votes, but for the EC turning a blind eye towards blatant misuse of the administrative machinery and the splurge of hundreds of crores by the BJP during the campaign,” he alleged.

Kishor had won the Bankipur bypoll in August, defeating the BJP candidate and ending the party’s three-decade hold over the constituency.

The Jan Suraaj Party founder said the “conduct of elections is compromised on all counts, be it funds, use of the bureaucracy or tinkering with the electoral rolls”.

He added, “The rot did not begin with Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. One of his predecessors, upon retirement, has become chairman of a bank, though he had been no banking sector expert. Clearly, it is a case of quid pro quo,” he alleged.

The Election Commission describes itself as an autonomous constitutional authority responsible for administering elections in India. It has also said the electoral-roll revision process is conducted under the relevant electoral laws.