In the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections, four constituencies recorded victory margins of fewer than 250 votes. Among them was Sringeri, where Congress candidate T D Rajegowda won the polls by a slender margin of 201 votes, defeating the BJP’s D N Jeevaraj.
Weeks later, in June 2023, Jeevaraj moved the Karnataka High Court challenging the result. His election petition alleged irregularities in the counting process and questioned the rejection of 279 postal ballots.
After nearly three years, the High Court in April ordered reverification of the rejected postal ballots and a complete recount of all postal ballots cast in the constituency.
The recount, which began around 10 am on May 2, took several dramatic turns before the official result was declared in the early hours of May 3. Even before the exercise concluded, reports emerged suggesting that Rajegowda had retained his lead. However, the final outcome overturned the original result.
Returning Officer Gaurav Shetty told reporters that 1,822 postal ballots had been polled in the constituency in 2023. According to the original count, Congress had secured 569 postal votes while the BJP had received 692.
“After the recount, Jeevaraj’s tally stood at 690 while Rajegowda’s came down to 314,” Shetty said.
The sharp reduction of 255 votes from Rajegowda’s tally — compared to only two votes from Jeevaraj’s — reversed the result, giving the BJP candidate a lead of 52 votes.
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On Thursday, Rajegwoda approached the Election Commission (EC0 seeking a forensic audit of the invalidated postal ballots. “It is our firm contention that the then Returning Officer, Vedamurthy, the then Deputy Commissioner, Ramesh, and D N Jeevaraj acted in collusion. After the initial results in 2023, they allegedly opened sealed covers and deliberately defaced ballots cast for Rajegowda to ensure rejection during a judicial recount,” stated the complaint submitted to the Chief Election Officer.
As confusion and allegations mounted over the recount process, Rajegowda’s election agent, Sudhir Kumar Maroli, filed a police complaint alleging tampering of postal ballots. The complaint named Jeevaraj, former Chikkamagaluru Deputy Commissioner K N Ramesh and former Returning Officer Vedamurthy.
An FIR was subsequently registered. However, following a petition filed by Jeevaraj, the High Court stayed further proceedings in the case.
The Congress, which has repeatedly raised allegations of “vote chori” in recent months, cited the Sringeri episode as fresh evidence of electoral manipulation. Senior party leaders alleged that the reversal had taken place at the behest of the BJP.
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Soon after the recount result, the Congress announced plans to pursue a legal challenge. At the same time, the BJP moved swiftly to ensure that Jeevaraj was sworn in as MLA, approaching Karnataka Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot seeking directions to the Assembly Speaker.
Addressing reporters on Tuesday, Maroli alleged several irregularities in the recount process. He said the postal ballots had originally been counted in four rounds of 500 each and that 279 ballots were rejected in 2023 for reasons including missing signatures of gazetted officers and mismatched serial numbers. “All other votes were treated as valid with the consent of agents present during counting,” he added.
Maroli further alleged that when the recount began on May 2, ballot boxes without proper seals were found. “We raised objections on record. Of the 279 rejected ballots, only 267 were available. Out of these, eight were treated as valid — two in favour of Jeevaraj, three for Rajegowda, while three were rejected again,” he said.
He also alleged that several ballot bundles appeared tampered with and bore different ink markings. “Ballots that were earlier counted as valid for Rajegowda had been deliberately spoiled. All this was recorded on video,” he claimed.
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His remarks came shortly after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar questioned how ballots deemed valid in 2023 had turned invalid during recounting three years later.
Siddaramaiah alleged that the tampering could have occurred shortly after the original counting process in 2023. He claimed that BJP leaders may have conspired with election officials while transporting trunks containing the postal ballots.
The CM also said that an observer appointed by the Election Commission (EC) had submitted a report indicating a “serious criminal conspiracy” in the counting process.
Rajegowda, meanwhile, maintained that the recount had deprived him of a legitimate victory. “I won by 201 votes, but I was cheated out of my victory. This is unconstitutional,” he said, adding that he had faith in both the judiciary and the EC to deliver justice.
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He questioned how fresh marks had appeared on ballots that were counted as valid during the original counting exercise.
On the other hand, the BJP defended the recount outcome and accused the Congress of benefiting from invalid votes during the 2023 election.
Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka said the reversal exposed “vote theft” by the Congress. Rejecting allegations of collusion, he asked why officials would act in favour of a leader who had not been elected for eight years. “The entire government should be dismissed for the vote theft at Sringeri,” he said.
Jeevaraj also defended the recount verdict, claiming that invalid votes had originally been counted in favour of Rajegowda in 2023. “Such cheating should not have happened,” he told reporters on Wednesday.