‘Vote dacoity’, says Siddaramaiah as recount reverses Sringeri result

KArnataka chief government minister Siddaramaiah on tues alleged a “ malefactor confederacy” by the Bharatiya Janata company (BJP) in the Sringeri assembly poll recounting, adding that the outcome was manipulated after valid postal ballot votes in favour of Congress leader TD Rajegowda were tampered with during the recounting process.The remarks came a day after a Karnataka high court-ordered recount overturned the 2023 election result in Sringeri, handing victory to BJP candidate DN Jeevaraj. The recount and reverification of postal ballots, conducted over the weekend, resulted in Jeevaraj defeating Congress legislator Rajegowda by 52 votes.“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah told reporters, alleging that valid votes cast in favour of Rajegowda were altered after being accepted by counting agents of all parties, including Congress, BJP, and JD(S).He further alleged that during the recounting of postal ballots, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later tampered with by subordinate officials.“This is not vote chori but vote dacoity,” the CM said, alleging: “The BJP does not believe in fair and impartial elections. In the past too, it has tried to tamper with the voter’s list through an organisation called Chilume. In Aland, efforts were made to drop genuine voters from the list. They do not hesitate to tamper electoral process.”The result was formally announced on Monday by poll officer Gaurav Kumar Shetty, and a report was submitted to the Election Commission of India.The revised outcome marked a reversal of the 201-vote win secured by Rajegowda in 2023. Of the 569 postal ballots reviewed, 255 that had originally been counted in favour of the Congress candidate were declared invalid, while two ballots previously rejected were counted as valid.Jeevaraj, who had challenged the result and pursued the case for three years, received his election certificate on Monday and described the verdict as “a victory for truth.” He reiterated his allegations of irregularities in the initial counting. “Earlier, votes were illegally added to ensure someone’s victory. We had already requested that the ballot papers be secured,” he alleged.Siddaramaiah questioned the basis on which ballots accepted during the original counting were later rejected. “The returning officer in 2023 had declared them as valid. If it is invalid now, why was it not invalid then? This is vote dacoity,” he said.Alleging that the ballots may have been tampered with after the 2023 counting process, the CM pointed to the handling of ballot papers by officials. “Let them inquire and let the truth come out. The ink is different on the paper. There should have been forensic investigation. The election officials should have reported the matter to high court before declaring the results. Why was the result declared before approval was taken from the observer? The returning officer must be under pressure from the Election Commission of India. Results have been declared with an urgency. They are trying to favour BJP,” he alleged.He also questioned the procedure followed after the High Court’s direction. “Due to the discovery of extra marks on the postal ballots, which were absent in 2023, the returning officer should have conducted a forensic analysis of these ballot papers before announcing the results,” he said. “Our allegation is that it was declared to support the BJP. During the counting, which should be free and fair like the polls, all ethics were disregarded.”Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar described the episode as unprecedented and called for intervention by EC. “The Election Commission must ensure justice in this matter,” he said. “We will fight this legally.”Meanwhile, BJP leaders moved to secure Jeevaraj’s induction into the assembly. Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka, along with party MLA Araga Jnanendra and Jeevaraj, met the Governor seeking early swearing-in.“As per rules, the Governor is empowered to administer the oath to newly elected legislators or nominate someone in his stead to swear an MLA in,” Ashoka said. “We requested the Governor to issue directions to the speaker.”He added that the BJP would launch a campaign if the swearing-in did not take place within the next few days.