CHIKKAMAGALURU: It will be a tense test for Sringeri Congress MLA TD Raje Gowda and defeated BJP candidate DN Jeevaraj as postal ballots cast in the 2023 Sringeri Assembly election will be counted on Saturday to determine the winner of the poll, as per a Karnataka High Court order.
On Thursday, election returning officer and Deputy Commissioner Nagaraj NM met all party leaders, including Raje Gowda and Jeevaraj, at the office-cum-court hall. In 2023, 1,822 postal votes had been cast. Of them, 279 were rejected, while three were for NOTA. A total of 1,540 postal votes were taken up for consideration and after counting, Gowda was declared the winner by a narrow margin of 201 votes.
Jeevaraj, who came second, later approached the high court, contending that the then election officer had failed to heed his request for a recount of postal ballots. He argued that the rejection of 279 postal votes had fuelled doubts over the election outcome. In its order on April 6, the high court directed the district administration to reverify the 279 rejected votes and recount all postal ballots before announcing the result afresh.
DC Nagaraj told reporters that arrangements have been made at IDSG Degree College for the recount in the presence of candidates and polling agents. During the re-verification process, if any postal votes initially rejected are found to be valid, they will be added to the already accepted valid votes. Thereafter, all postal votes will be recounted. Once the entire procedure is completed, the recounting documentation will be submitted to the high court and the Election Commission.
The DC also announced that the liquor sale is prohibited from 6 am to 1 pm on Saturday.
