Bengaluru, Aug 2 (IANS) After the Karnataka High Court’s order setting aside his 2021 election and the Supreme Court’s dismissal of his appeal, M.K. Pranesh, BJP Member of the Legislative Council (MLC) and Vice-Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council, has resigned from both posts, citing personal reasons and party responsibilities.
The Karnataka High Court on July 31 set aside the election of BJP leader M.K. Pranesh from the Chikkamagaluru Local Authorities’ constituency and declared Congress candidate Gayathri Shantegowda the winner of the 2021 Legislative Council election.
The court also directed the Registrar to forward a copy of its order to the Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council, Basavaraj Horatti.
Following the development, Pranesh on Saturday submitted his resignation to Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman Horatti at the Council office on Saturday.
Sources said that, fearing dismissal, Pranesh tendered his resignation to avoid the embarrassment of being removed from office.
In his resignation letter, Pranesh said that he was stepping down as Vice-Chairman of Karnataka Legislative Council and resigning as the Member of the Legislative Council due to personal reasons and to devote more time to his responsibilities within the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Karnataka High Court Justice S.G. Pandit, sitting as a single judge, passed the order while allowing an election petition filed by Gayathri Shantegowda. She had sought the cancellation of the Election Commission’s decision declaring Pranesh elected after including votes cast by 12 nominated members of the Mudigere, N.R. Pura, Sringeri and Koppa town panchayats.
After excluding the votes cast by the nominated members and conducting a recount of the remaining valid ballots, Shantegowda secured 1,183 votes, while Pranesh received 1,174 votes.
Taking note of the revised figures, the High Court declared Gayathri Shantegowda the duly elected candidate.
Shantegowda will now represent the Chikkamagaluru Local Authorities’ constituency in the Legislative Council. She is expected to serve the remainder of the term, which is around one-and-a-half years.
In the 2021 election to the Chikkamagaluru Local Authorities’ Legislative Council constituency, Pranesh was initially declared the winner with 1,182 votes, while Gayathri Shantegowda secured 1,176 votes, resulting in a margin of six votes.
Gayathri contended that nominated members of local bodies do not have the constitutional right to vote in elections to the Legislative Council from Local Authorities’ constituencies.
She challenged Pranesh’s election before the Karnataka High Court. After the High Court ruled in her favour, Pranesh approached the Supreme Court challenging the recount of votes and the High Court’s judgment.
After both courts held that nominated members were not entitled to vote in the election, a recount of the valid ballots reduced Pranesh’s tally to 1,174 votes and increased Shantegowda’s tally to 1,183 votes.
The Supreme Court dismissed Pranesh’s appeal, thereby finalising the setting aside of his election as an MLC and his removal from the post of Vice Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council, paving the way for Shantegowda to be officially declared the elected representative.
–IANS
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