The Chikkamagaluru district administration will recount votes polled during the elections to the Legislative Council from the local bodies of Chikkamagaluru district, held in December 2021, on February 28.

It will take place as per the court orders.

The Karnataka High Court directed the administration to hold a recount in response to a petition filed by Gayathri Shanthegowda, the Congress candidate who lost the election against BJP’s M.K. Pranesh.

Meena Nagaraj, Deputy Commissioner of Chikkamagaluru, told The Hindu on Friday that the recounting of votes would be held on February 28 as per court instructions.

“The Election Commission has issued instructions to conduct the vote counting in accordance with the Conduct of Election Rules. We will notify the candidates and initiate the counting process. A training programme for the staff members involved in the vote counting will also be conducted,” said the officer.

As per the court’s instructions, the district administration will count the votes and submit the report to the court.

The polling took place on December 10, 2021, in which members of both urban and rural local bodies in the district cast their votes. The counting was conducted on December 14, 2021. Of the total 2,410 votes cast, BJP candidate M.K. Pranesh was elected with 1,188 votes, while Congress candidate Gayathri Shanthegowda lost, receiving 1,182 votes. As many as 39 votes were deemed invalid.

The victory margin was only six votes. Besides the two, there were three more candidates in the fray, including K. Sundar Gowda of the Aam Aadmi Party and independent candidates B.T. Chandrashekhar and G.I. Renukumar.

Gayathri Shanthegowda moved the court challenging the election of Mr. Pranesh, arguing that 12 members of urban local bodies in Sringeri, Koppa, Narasimharajapur, and Mudgiere, who were nominated by the ruling government, had no voting rights. Now, the court has ordered the district administration to recount the votes and keep the votes polled by the nominated members separate.

The polling was conducted with ballot papers, not the electronic voting machine. The ballot boxes have been kept in the district treasury.