478 candidates left in fray in LS polls in K'taka

Bengaluru: A total of 478 candidates arein the fray from 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka that will go to the polls in two phases, election officials said Monday.

According to the officials, 237 candidates are in the field in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies that will go to polls in the second phase on April 23.

The officials said 45 candidates have withdrawn their nomination on Monday, the last day to withdraw papers for the second phase.

Belgaum with 57 has the maximum number of candidates, while Raichur with five have the lowest in the second phase, as well as in both phases on the whole.

For the first phase of polls on April 18, 241 candidates are in the fray.

Prominent contestants in the first phase include former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda (Tumkur), his grandsons Prajwal Revanna and Nikhil Kumaraswamy from Hassan and Mandya respectively, as also Union Minister Sadananda Gowda (Bangalore North) and senior Congress leaders Veerappa Moily Chikkaballapura), among others.

In the second phase, prominent contestants include Congress leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Union Ministers Ananth Kumar Hegde from Uttara Kannada, Ramesh Jigajinagi from Bijapur, BJP chief B S Yeddyurappa’s son B Y Raghavendra and former chief minister S Bangarappa’s son Madhu Bangarappa of JD(S) from Shimogga, among others.

Karnataka will go to polls in two phases, 14 constituencies each, on April 18 and 23.

The total number of polling stations in the state stands at 58,186.

Officials said 30,164 polling stations come under the firstphase, while 28,022 in the second.