Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday alleged a “criminal conspiracy” by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Sringeri Assembly vote recount, adding that the result was manipulated after valid postal ballots were tampered with in favor of Congress leader TD Rajewda during the recount.
The remarks came a day after a Karnataka High Court-ordered recount of the 2023 elections result in Sringeri was annulled, handing victory to BJP candidate D N Jeevaraj. The recount and verification of postal ballots, conducted over the weekend, led to Jeevaraj’s victory over Congress legislator Rajegowda by 52 votes.
“This is a clear case of criminal conspiracy,” Siddaramaiah told reporters, alleging that the valid votes cast in favor of Rajyodha were altered after being accepted by vote counting agents of all parties, including the Congress, BJP and JD(S).
He further alleged that during the recount of postal votes, 255 votes were initially accepted as valid by all agents but were later manipulated by subordinate officials.
“This is not a vote, but a vote,” the Prime Minister said, alleging that “the BJP does not believe in fair and impartial elections. In the past too, it has tried to manipulate the voters’ list through an organization called Chilom. In Aland, efforts have been made to drop the genuine voters from the list. They do not hesitate to manipulate the electoral process.”
Polling official Gaurav Kumar Shetty officially announced the result on Monday, and a report was submitted to the Election Commission of India.
The revised result represents a reversal from Rajegowda’s win of 201 votes in 2023. Of the 569 postal ballots reviewed, 255 ballots originally counted in favor of the Congress candidate were declared invalid, while two ballots that were previously rejected were declared valid.
Jeevaraj, who appealed the result and prosecuted the case for three years, received his certificate of election on Monday and described the ruling as a “victory for the truth.” He repeated his allegations of irregularities in the initial count. “Earlier, votes were added illegally to ensure someone’s victory. We have already asked for ballot papers to be secured,” he added.
Siddaramaiah questioned the basis on which the ballot papers were rejected during the original counting. “The returning officer in 2023 has declared it valid. If it is invalid now, why was it not invalid then? That is a decent vote,” he said.
The Prime Minister claimed that ballot papers may have been tampered with after the 2023 vote counting process, and pointed to officials’ handling of ballot papers. “Let them inquire and let the truth emerge. The ink is different on paper. There should have been a criminal investigation. Election officials should have reported the matter to the Supreme Court before announcing the results. Why was the result announced before taking approval from the observer? The returning officer must be under pressure from the Election Commission of India. The results were announced urgently. They are trying to favor the BJP,” he added.
He also questioned the procedure followed after the Supreme Court’s directions. “Given the discovery of excess marks on postal ballot papers, 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 support for the BJP was announced. During the counting process, which should be as free and fair as the ballot boxes, all ethics were ignored.”
Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar described the incident as unprecedented and called on the European Commission to intervene. “The Election Commission must ensure justice in this matter,” he said. “We will fight this legally.”
Meanwhile, BJP leaders moved to secure Jeevaraj’s entry into the Assembly. Opposition Leader R Ashoka, along with party MLAs Araga Jnanendra and Jeevaraj, met the governor seeking early swearing-in.
“Under the rules, the governor has the power to administer oath to the newly elected legislators or nominate someone in his place to take the oath of office,” Ashoka said. “We have asked the governor to issue directions to the Speaker of the House of Representatives.”
He added that the BJP will launch a campaign if the oath is not taken within the next few days.
