Congress' TD Rajegowda moves Supreme Court challenging his ouster as Sringeri MLA after vote recount

Congress leader TD Rajegowda has filed a plea before the Supreme Court seeking relief after a recent vote recount order passed by the Karnataka High Court led to his ouster from his position as the MLA of Karnataka's Sringeri constituency. .The matter was mentioned before a Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant today by Senior Advocate Devdas Kamath."Pursuant to an election petition, a sitting MLA has been displaced," Kamath said. The Court agreed to list the matter for hearing on May 11. .The matter concerns the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections. Congress' TD Rajegowda had been declared the winner from the Sringeri constituency, by a narrow margin of 201 votes. The result was subsequently challenged by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader DN Jeevaraj through an election petition filed before the Karnataka High Court. On April 6, the High Court ordered a recount of postal ballot votes, including a re-verification of 279 rejected postal ballots.On May 3, 2026, the Returning Officer formally declared a revised result, in which Rajegowda's votes were reportedly reduced by 255 and Jeevaraj was declared the winning candidate.This turn of events has now been challenged before the Supreme Court by Rajegowda in a plea filed through advocate Tushar Giri..Rajegowda has argued that the High Court had only ordered the reverification of 279 rejected postal ballots, while the returning officer illegally reconsidered even 562 valid postal ballots that were in Rajegowda's favour. He has also challenged the High Court judgment itself, questioning the need for a recount exercise when it had given findings that were favourable to him with respect to corruption allegations levelled by Jeevaraj against him. Meanwhile, Jeevaraj is now facing a criminal case of tampering with postal ballot papers. The complaint was filed by a Congress election agent Sudhir Kumar Murolli against the BJP leader, Deputy Commissioner KN Ramesh, former Returning Officer Vedamurthy and others. Jeevaraj has moved the Karnataka High Court to quash this criminal case. The High Court recently stayed the case against Jeevaraj and Vedamurthy.