Jharkhand High Court orders recounting of 2009 assembly election of Hatia constituency

Jharkhand high court on Thursday ordered the sub-divisional officer (SDO) of Ranchi to recount the votes polled in Hatia assembl y constituency in 2009.

The high court ordered for recounting the votes in response to an election petition filed by the BJP nominee and former minister Ramji Lal Sarada who was defeated by a slender margin of 25 votes by Congress candidate late Gopal Sharan Nath Shahdeo.

The court of Justice D K Sinha asked the SDO to complete the recounting within eight weeks in the presence of contesting candidates. The court also sought a report from the SDO on the exact number of votes polled in Hatia constituency.

The BJP candidate Sharda alleged in his election petition that he was defeated by 25 votes only due to corrupt practices adopted by the Congress candidate Shahdeo in connivance with the returning officer Suchi Tyagi.

The BJP candidate further alleged that soon after counting of votes, he was declared elected but after an hour the returning officer announced the Congress candidate Shahdeo as the winner.

The Hatia assembly constituency was one of the 81 seats of Jharkhand Assembly where polls were held on November 25, 2009. The seat fell vacant after the death of the Congress candidate Shahdeo in June last year.