Bengaluru: As per the directions of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission has conducted the recounting of the Malur Assembly constituency in Kolar district, for which the election was held in 2023 during general elections to the Karnataka State Assembly.
As per the directions, the counting was conducted in front of the candidates and the result was not announced and has been put in a sealed cover for submitting it to the Supreme Court.
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 by a margin of around 250 votes..
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 the 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 a 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 those four weeks.
