Karnataka BJP MP's election set aside

Bangalore, June 11 (IANS) The Karnataka High Court Monday set aside the election of J. Shanta as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha member from the Bellary reserved constituency (ST) on charges of irregularities.

Setting aside Shanta's election due to irregularity in counting of votes, Justice H. Billappa ordered the Election Commission to recount the votes polled in the May 2009 general elections within next four weeks.

Bellary is about 300 km from Bangalore.

Shanta is the younger sister of B. Sriramulu, an independent lawmaker from the Bellary Rural assembly segment and a former BJP minister.

Congress member M. Chandre Gowda filed a writ petition in the high court in 2009 challenging Shanta's election, alleging malpractice in counting of votes and accused her of submitting a false caste certificate when she filed the nomination papers.

"Though Shanta belongs to the Boya community, which comes under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) after her marriage, she had contested as a member of the Valmiki community, which is classified under Scheduled Tribals (ST)," the petition said.

The only woman Lok Sabha MP from the state is also associate of mining baron G. Janaradhana Reddy, who is in the Bangalore central jail in a CBI case related to the multi-crore-rupee mining scam in the state.