Malur Election Dispute: Supreme Court Orders Full Vote Recount
The top court has put the High Court's decision on hold and asked for the new results to be submitted in a sealed envelope.
New Delhi – The Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered a complete recount of all votes cast in the Malur assembly constituency election in Karnataka.
The court has instructed the state’s Chief Electoral Officer to conduct the recount. The final results are not to be made public. Instead, they must be submitted directly to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover.
This decision comes after the current Malur MLA, K. Y. Nanjegowda from the Congress party, challenged an earlier ruling by the Karnataka High Court that had declared his election win invalid. The Supreme Court has now put a temporary hold on the High Court’s order.
The dispute began after the Karnataka assembly elections in 2023. Mr. Nanjegowda won the Malur seat by a very narrow margin of only 248 votes. He secured 50,955 votes, while his opponent, K. S. Manjunath Gowda of the BJP, received 50,707 votes.
Following the result, Mr. Manjunath Gowda took the matter to the High Court, alleging that there were errors in the counting process. The High Court agreed and cancelled Mr. Nanjegowda’s election victory, giving him 30 days to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The future of the Malur constituency will now be decided by the outcome of this court-ordered recount.
