High court orders sample recounting of votes from Nasirabad

JAIPUR: On an election petition moved by former minister Sanwar Lal Jat, the Rajasthan high court has ordered recounting of two rounds of votes from any one table of the Nasirabad constituency, as a test check to know if any irregularities were committed in the 2008 assembly elections.
BJP's Jat had lost to Congress's Mahendra Singh Gujjar by a narrow margin of 71 votes in December 2008.Jat objected to the election result and alleged irregularities in counting of votes. Soon, he moved a petition before the high court challenging the election of Gujjar.
Justice Dalip Singh on Friday ordered a 'test check' through recounting of two rounds of votes to know if the alleged irregularities were indeed committed. For counting purposes, the votes cast at the constituency's different polling stations were divided over 14 tables and counted in a couple of rounds.
The court has ordered Jat to bear the cost of recounting. As such, the BJP leader will have to deposit Rs 50,000 to the Election Commission of India (ECI) and Rs 20,000 as tentative cost of the election petition by May 7. Jat has also been asked to choose the table for which he wants recounting. The ECI would, thereafter, recount the votes within 30 days and inform the high court, which would hear the petition again on July 5.