3 min readBengaluruUpdated: May 5, 2026 06:25 PM IST
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Tuesday accused the BJP of a “criminal conspiracy” to steal votes following a controversial recount in the Sringeri Assembly constituency. He said the Congress will legally challenge the returning officer’s (RO) decision to declare BJP’s D N Jeevaraj the winner.
The row erupted Sunday after 255 postal ballots previously polled for Congress’s T D Rajegowda were declared invalid during a court-ordered recount. This shift handed Jeevaraj a 52-vote lead, effectively erasing the 201-vote victory secured by the Congress in the 2023 Assembly elections.
Addressing a press conference, Siddaramaiah said he suspected that the postal ballots had been tampered with long after the 2023 counting process was completed. He accused the BJP of conspiring with election staff who transported the trunk containing the ballots to tamper with the votes.
Noting that the votes declared invalid two days ago were counted as valid in 2023, he said all 12 candidates or their agents signed off validating these votes. “The BJP should have raised an objection then, but it didn’t,” he said.
“Due to the discovery of extra marks on the postal ballots, which were absent in 2023, the returning officer should have conducted a forensic analysis of these ballot papers before announcing the results,” he added.
Siddaramaiah said that a central observer present during the recount submitted a report to the Election Commission, which highlighted a “serious criminal conspiracy.”
Since the recounting was conducted based on court directives, the returning officer should have presented the results to the court for its decision and guidance, he said. Instead, the results were announced in haste, he alleged.
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“Our allegation is that it was declared to support the BJP. During the counting, which should be free and fair like the polls, all ethics were disregarded,” he said.
Meanwhile, Leader of Opposition R Ashoka, along with MLA Araga Jnanendra and Jeevaraj, met with the Governor and requested that Jeevaraj be sworn in as soon as possible.
Ashoka told the media that although the ECI granted Jeevaraj the victory certificate, Legislative Assembly Speaker U T Khader was delaying the MLA’s swearing-in.
“As per rules, the Governor is empowered to administer the oath to newly elected legislators or nominate someone in his stead to swear an MLA in… We requested the Governor to issue directions to the Speaker,” he said.
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If Jeevaraj is not sworn in within the next few days, the BJP will initiate a campaign against the Speaker, Ashoka added.
