The petitioner prays for a declaration that the election of the 1st respondent to the Kerala Legislative Assembly from No. 70 Parur Assembly Constituency was void, and that the petitioner has been duly elected from the said constituency.

2. Six candidates contested the election on 19-5-1982 from No. 70 Parur L. A. Constituency. The 1st respondent who was a candidate of the Communist Party of India and the petitioner, a candidate of the Congress (A), were the two principal contestants. The result of the election was announced on 20-5-1982. The 1st respondent secured 30450 votes while the petitioner secured only 30327 votes. The 1st respondent thus secured 123 votes more than the total votes secured by the petitioner. Of the 30450 votes secured by the 1st respondent, only 11268 votes had been manually cast in the conventional manner - (hereinafter referred to as "conventional votes") -in accordance with the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (the 'Act') and the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 (the 'Rules'). The remaining 19182 votes were cast by means of electronic voting machines (for short, 'voting machines') in accordance with the directions issued by the Election C