The Karnataka High Court has set aside the election of Congress MLA K.Y. Nanjegowda from the Malur constituency in Kolar district and ordered a recount of the votes polled in the 2023 Assembly elections. Justice R. Devdas delivered the verdict on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, in response to a petition filed by K.S. Manjunath Gowda of the BJP, who lost to Nanjegowda by a narrow margin of 248 votes in the May 2023 elections.

Manjunath Gowda's petition alleged irregularities during the counting process. He requested the court to present all documents, videos, and other materials related to the election and pleaded for a recount of the votes. The BJP candidate claimed that counting officials initially informed him over the phone that he had won, but later, the result declared Nanjegowda as the winner by 248 votes. His petition highlighted several concerns, including the returning officer's failure to issue an order on his recount application, incorrect vote tabulation, the absence of counting agents' signatures on many Form-17C Part-II documents, and the admission of unauthorized individuals into the counting center.

The court noted that these allegations could have been easily verified if the District Election Officer (DEO) had presented the video recordings of the counting process, which are mandatory according to the Election Commission of India (ECI). The High Court directed the DEO and the ECI to conduct the recount and announce the results afresh within four weeks, following all necessary procedures. The court also asked Kolar District Election Officer Venkataraju to clarify whether the hard disk containing the footage of the vote counting process in Malur constituency was obtained from M.Ikea Business Solutions Private Limited and submit an affidavit.

However, the court has put its order on hold for 30 days following a request from Nanjegowda's counsel. This interim relief allows the Congress MLA to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court. If the Supreme Court does not intervene within this period, Nanjegowda's seat will be vacated.

During the hearing, Nanjegowda's counsel argued that the allegations of corrupt practices and inconsistencies in vote tabulation were unsupported by factual evidence. Manjunath's counsel countered that the returning officer intentionally avoided making a decision on his client's recount application to favor Nanjegowda.

The High Court referenced a recent Supreme Court judgment that upheld a recount in an election where the presiding officer's diary from the polling booths could not be found. Justice Devdas observed that the ECI was aware of all the developments, but efforts to obtain the video recordings were unsuccessful.

This development has sparked political reactions, with the BJP alleging "vote-chori" (vote theft) by the Congress. The Congress party had recently launched a campaign against alleged voter fraud, claiming irregularities in the Lok Sabha election in Karnataka and the Assembly poll in Maharashtra. The BJP has questioned whether Rahul Gandhi, who has been spearheading the "vote chori" campaign, would now address the issue within his own party.