Karnataka Assembly Elections: Congress files complaint over Jayanagar results

Following a tightly contested election in Jayanagar, where BJP candidate C K Ramamurthy secured victory by a narrow margin of 16 votes, the Congress party has filed a written complaint with the Election Commission of India (ECI) citing "irregularities" in the result

Senior Congress leader Ramalinga Reddy, whose daughter Sowmya Reddy was the party candidate in Jayanagar, confirmed that they have lodged a formal complaint with the ECI and expressed hope that the commission would review the result and order a recount.

The Congress party's complaint highlights various points of contention with the results announced on Saturday at midnight.

Speaking to DH, Reddy said they were consulting legal experts and likely to petition the High Court of Karnataka. 

Also Read | Karnataka Assembly Elections 2023: BJP clinches Jayanagar cliffhanger by 16 votes; Congress mulls legal route

Congress party sources said that they had filed a case with the high court online and would soon move an in-person petition requesting a stay on the result and a subsequent recount. 

Reddy questioned why postal ballots rejected for technical reasons were later accepted. He also wondered why the BJP's Bangalore South MP, L S Tejasvi Surya, was allowed into the counting centre "against the rules". 

Tara Krishnaswamy, a civil society activist who assisted Sowmya's election campaign, suggested that Surya was also allowed to carry his mobile phone into the counting centre. 

Postal ballots, those that either didn’t have a gazetted officer’s seal to authenticate the voter's signature or had additional markings, were counted even though they had been rejected previously as per the rules, she noted. 

"Election agents were not provided with printed copies of the results after each round of counting to tally them, which is also a violation," she said. 

After all counting rounds, Sowmya led by 294 votes over rival Ramamurthy. The lead was subsequently reduced to 171. 

However, upon Ramamurthy’s appeal, votes were recounted because ECI rules stipulate that if the margin of victory is lower than the number of rejected postal ballots, there must be a recount. 

Congress argued that the observers pushed for the counting of nearly 200 rejected postal ballots, which turned the tide in the BJP candidate’s favour. 

Several people also questioned the presence of Ramalinga and Padmanabhanagar MLA-elect R Ashoka at the counting centre. 

Party sources argued that both of them were allowed in the counting centre because their constituency votes were also counted there. Sowmya’s brother was inside because he is one of her election agents, they said. They added that only Surya’s presence there was unaccounted for. 

Karnataka’s Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Kumar Meena did not respond to phone calls. 

Sources in his office, however, said political parties could file a petition whenever there is misconduct or overreach by poll personnel.

"Complaints about election results are heard in the high court,” the source said.  Neither Sowmya, Surya, nor Ramamurthy responded to phone calls from DH.