First phase of LS Polls: 362 candidates file nominations in K’taka

Bengaluru: In the backdrop of the first phase of Lok Sabha elections in Karnataka on April 18, a total of 362 candidates have filed nominations from 14 constituencies, informed an official statement on Tuesday.

The last date for filing nominations ended on Tuesday and 362 candidates filed papers in 14 parliamentary seats, said Karnataka chief electoral officer Sanjiv Kumar. Bengaluru North has the maximum number of candidates at 40 while Chamarajnagar Hassan has the least number of candidates at only 13.

The central and southern regions of the state include the 14 constituencies going for election in the first phase and the constituencies include Udupi-Chikmagalur, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga, Tumkur, Mandya, Mysore, Chamrajnagar, Bangalore Rural, Bangalore North, Bangalore Central, Bangalore South, Chikkaballapur and Kolar. Incidentally, Chamrajnagar, Chitradurga and Kolar are reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates.

“The nominates will be scrutinised on Wednesday and the last date for withdrawal is on March 29, after which the final number of candidates in the fray will be known,” added Mr Kumar.

The electoral battle will mainly be a straight contest against the BJP in 13 seats, with the ruling allies Congress and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) entering into a pre-poll alliance to field joint candidates. However, in  Mandya the contest is between Nikhil Kumaraswamy (JD(S)), who is the Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy’s son and grandson of JD-S supremo HD Deve Gowda and Sumalatha Ambreesh who is contesting as an independent.

Contest in only 9 seats

In the total 14 seats, Congress has decided to contest in 9 constituencies’ including Bangalore Central, Bangalore North, Bangalore Rural, Bangalore South, Chamrajanagar (SC), Chikballapur, Chitradurga (SC), Kolar (SC) and Mysore. JD(S) will be contesting at Hassan, Mandya, Tumkur and Udupi-Chikamgalur.

Prominent candidates

There are some prominent candidates contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections including JD-S supremo Deve Gowda from Tumkur and his other grandson Prajwal who is the son of state PWD Minister HD Revanna. Union Minister DV Sadananda Gowda will be contesting from Bengaluru North, senior Congress leader BK Hariprasad from Bangalore South, former Union Minister and Chief Minister M Veerappa Moily of the Congress from Chikballapur and Shobha Karandlaje of BJP from Udupi-Chikmagalur constituency.

The remaining 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state will go to poll on April 22 and these areas include the northern regions of the southern state and its coastal areas. The counting of the votes of all the 28 parliamentary seats will be on May 23^rd.