Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Tejasvi Surya has responded to the controversy over the election contest in Jayanagar constituency, which the BJP won by a narrow margin of 16 votes after a re-examination of postal ballot votes. The MP told Public TV that he went to the Jayanagar counting centre because senior Congress leader Ramalinga Reddy, father of the Congress candidate Sowmya Reddy, was allegedly present there. The results of the election were announced at midnight on Saturday, May 13, 17 hours after the counting of votes began, and the BJP candidate CK Ramamurthy was declared the winner by a margin of 16 votes.
The counting of votes for the Jayanagar constituency took place in SSMRV PU College. It is to be noted here that the same counting centre was used for counting the votes of the BTM Layout and Padmanabhanagar constituencies. Technically, R Ashoka, who won from Padmanabhanagar, Ramalinga Reddy, who won from BTM Layout, could be present at the counting centre. However, Tejasvi Surya questioned why Ramalinga Reddy was seen at the Jayanagar counting room on Saturday. “Around 5.30 pm, Ramalinga Reddy, his son, and two corporators along with Congress workers were sitting inside the (Jayanagar) counting room and threatening officials not to declare the result. What were they doing? What right do they have to sit there?” Tejasvi asked.
The Congress had questioned the presence of Tejasvi Surya in the counting centre since he was not a candidate in the Assembly elections. Tejasvi has responded stating that he was there around 7.30 pm to ask the officials to ensure that only candidates and their agents were allowed to be at the counting room. In a video that has since been shared widely on social media, Tejasvi is heard asking the police to send people outside the counting room.
Is RLR allowed to sit inside the Jayanagar Counting Hall?
— Surabhi Hodigere (@SurabhiHodigere) May 15, 2023
If you were present at the location of the event - did you not observe the many congress leaders inside? Why did you not include this in your report? You must edit or publish a new story.
#JayanagarRecounting pic.twitter.com/Y0yH31wnVs
“CCTV cameras also show that from 3.30 pm there were 30 Congress workers – under the leadership of Ramalinga Reddy – sitting inside the counting centre,” he said.
The main allegation by the Congress was that after the first mandatory recounting, Sowmya Reddy still had more votes than CK Ramamurthy and it was then that the poll observer called for a second re-examination of the votes. Tejasvi contested this claim stating that the BJP was declared the winner in the first re-examination of votes itself. “ECI rules on postal ballots state that when the victory margin is lower than the postal ballot votes, it is mandatory to recount the votes. We don’t even have to apply for a recount in this case. During recount, the observers recounted the votes they had initially ‘mistakenly’ declared illegal,” Tejasvi said.
“According to law, recounts are allowed once. We did apply for a recount but it was not necessary owing to the conduct of election rules. It was a suo motu recount. Congress celebrated even before the declaration. It’s a lie that three-four rounds of recount were done,” the MP added.
He further said that the final re-examination of votes was done in the presence of the candidates and their agents, after which CK Ramamurthy was declared the winner. “Another recount was done, in the presence of Sowmya Reddy and Ramamurthy along with their agents. Every postal ballot was verified in front of them. Each of them has been videographed. Random VVPAT machines were also checked. Despite this, we were declared winners. They (Congress) should have respected the people’s mandate, similar to how we respected the people’s mandate when we lost 136 seats,” Tejasvi Surya added.