25 candidates in fray for May 19 Karna bypolls

Bengaluru: A total of 25 candidates are in the fray for the May 19 byelections to two assembly constituencies in Karnataka, election officials said Thursday.

Among 25 contesting candidates, 17 are from Chincholi and 8 from Kundgol assembly segments.

Both the constituencies have two women each as candidates.

Thursday was the last date for withdrawal of nominations.

The bypoll to Chincholi has been necessitated by the resignation of sitting member Umesh Jadhav who quit the Congress and joined the BJP to contest the recent Lok Sabha polls from Gulbarga.

Kundgol seat fell vacant following the death of minister C S Shivalli.

The main contest in this bypoll will be between the nominees of Congress, which held the seats, and the BJP.

The BJP has fielded S I Chikkanagowdar and Avinash Jadhav from Kundgol and Chincholi assembly seats respectively.

The Congress candidates are: Subash Rathod in Chincholi and Kusumavathi, wife of Shivalli, in Kundgol.

A couple of disgruntled Congressmen in Kundgol, who had filed their papers as rebel candidates, withdrew their nominations Thursday after the party leadership, especially Minister B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan, intervened.

The Congress, supported by its alliance partner JD(S) in the bypoll, is determined to retain both seats.

The outcome of bypolls along with that of the elections to 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in the State, held in two phases on April 18 and 23, is crucial for the ruling Congress-JD(S) combine, facing a fresh bout of dissidence.