The votes polled in the Malur constituency in Karnataka’s Kolar district during the 2023 Assembly elections will be counted again on November 11 following a Supreme Court order, sources said. The chief electoral officer has written to the district administration to count the votes again.
The Supreme Court order, which came on October 14, stayed a Karnataka High Court decision that declared the election of Congress candidate K Y Nanjegowda void. The apex court, however, directed the Election Commission to recount the votes and submit the results in a sealed cover.
Nanjegowda won the 2023 polls by a wafer-thin margin of 248 votes against BJP candidate K S Manjunath Gowda, who subsequently approached the high court, accusing officials of unauthorised handling of electronic voting machines and demanding a recount in the presence of all stakeholders.
Acting on Gowda’s petition, the high court in September ordered a recount of votes within four weeks and directed action against an election official for failing to preserve video records of the counting. Following this, Nanjegowda challenged the high court decision in the Supreme Court, which then ordered the recount.