Daijiworld Media Network - Bellary (SP)

Bellary,May 19: It is learnt, Congress candidate N Y Hanumantappa, who was declared defeated from the local Lok Sabha constituency, is preparing the groundwork for questioning the election result in the state High Court. 

Hanumantappa, dumbfounded with the turn of events that eluded him a victory at the last minute, suspects foul play and has been pooling data and records to prove that he should have been declared a winner.

The disappointed Congress candidate, a retired judge himself, was in the lead till the last few rounds. Doubts had arisen after his onward march was halted and he suddenly started trailing at the fag end of the counting process. His application for recounting and retotalling had been turned down on the day of the result.

Hanumantappa, who was in the lead till the 15th round, lost steam and slipped short between the 16th to 18th rounds. He is unhappy about the handling of the election by the district administration, particularly the functioning style of deputy commissioner B Shivappa. He feels, some pressure had worked behind the publication of results. 

The Congressmen have been alleging that their candidate would have come out victorious, had the request for recounting and retotalling been upheld. They also feel that the officials purposefully added votes polled by Hanumantappa to J Shanta's account to ensure her victory.

The Congressmen also insist that J Shanta, who belonged to the scheduled tribe, has not remained so after her marriage, as she married a man from Valmiki community from Andhra Pradesh, which is considered a backward caste in that state. This will also be raised in the court, they say.