Supreme Court Refuses To Stay Recounting In Karnataka’s Malur Assembly Seat

Bengaluru: The ruling Congress, which had levelled 'vote chori' allegations against the BJP during Parliament elections at Mahadevapura Assembly Constituency area is now on the receiving end, with the Supreme Court refusing to stay the recounting of Malur Assembly Constituency, where Congress candidate was declared victorious.

However, the SC has asked the Election Commission to withhold the result of the recounting and submit the result to the Court in a sealed cover.

At the same time, the SC has stayed the Karnataka High Court decision to disqualify the Congress MLA Nanje Gowda, whom the Election Officer had declared the winner by a margin of around 250 votes.

During 2023 general elections, Malur was one of the over 25 constituencies that witnessed close contests. At the end, Congress candidate Nanje Gowda emerged victorious against BJP candidate Manjunath Gowda.

The counting was done in four separate rooms and after coming out, the BJP candidate found discrepancies in tabulation of each room. When he went back to Election Officer and sought re- totalling of the counting process,he was denied an opportunity.

When he approached the court, Karnataka High Court asked the EVMs to be kept in safe locker and two months ago, the HC found discrepancies in the counting and tabulation of votes and struck down the result.

The HC not only ordered for the recounting, but also disqualified Nanje Gowda from MLA post. However, the Supreme Court stayed the disqualification for four weeks, before directing the Election Commission to complete recounting within that four weeks.

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