Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar said BJP candidate N Jeevaraj had conspired with some officers and tampered with the postal votes. (File Photo)

A dispute over alleged irregularities in a court-ordered recount of postal ballots in Karnataka’s Sringeri constituency—which flipped the 2023 Assembly results in favour of the BJP by a margin of 52 votes on Sunday—sparked a war of words between the ruling Congress and the BJP.

While the Congress alleged a “conspiracy” and “criminal activity” behind the invalidation of votes polled for its candidate, T D Rajegowda, the BJP demanded that the recount results be declared immediately.

Speaking to reporters, Deputy Chief Minister and state Congress president D K Shivakumar said that BJP candidate and former MLA N Jeevaraj had conspired with some officers and tampered with the postal votes.

“More than 200 postal votes were marked using pens,” he said, noting that the same votes without the marks were validated by election agents from both parties during…