Bengaluru, Mar 30: As many as 241 candidates are in the fray for 14 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka for the first phase of polling on April 18 after the last date of withdrawals on Friday, said an official.
"With 33 withdrawals after scrutiny of 274 validly nominated candidates on Wednesday, the number of contestants in 14 parliamentary seats is 241," said an official of the state's chief electoral officer in a statement.
Among the key withdrawals was that of sitting Congress MP Muddahanumegowda who confirmed on Friday that he will not be contesting from the Tumakuru seat as an independent candidate.
Tumakuru was the only seat handed over by the Congress to the JD(S) in spite of an incumbent MP from the party ready to contest. Former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda will now contest from Tumakuru as the sole coalition candidate.
Among all constituencies, Bangalore North has the highest number of 31 candidates, followed by 25 in Bangalore South and 22 each in Bangalore Central, Mandya and Mysore.
The least number of candidates is six in Hassan, followed by 10 in Chamarajnagar, 12 in Udupi-Chikkmagalur and 13 in Dakshina Kannada.
Congress leader Pramod Madhwaraj is contesting on a JD(S) ticket from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru, while another Congress leader Amrit Shenoy is contesting as an independent candidate.
Meanwhile, Kolar saw maximum withdrawals of six, followed by four each in Chitradurga, Mandya and Tumkur.
There were no withdrawals in Bangalore South and Dakshina Kannada, while it was one each in Bangalore North and Hassan and two each in Bangalore Central, Bangalore Rural, Chamarajnagar, Chikkaballapur and Udupi-Chikkamagalur.
There were 362 candidates who filed nominations by the last date on March 26 for the first phase, after notification on March 19.
Comments
Add new comment