K'taka bypolls: 37 candidates nominated for bypolls to 2 seats

Bengaluru: A total of 37 candidates were on Saturday declared as nominated for the November 3 bypolls to Sira and Rajarajeshwari Nagar Assembly segments in Karnataka. The declaration comes following the scrutiny of the nomination papers, poll officials said.

Among the nominated candidates, 17 are for Sira seat and 20 for Rajarajeshwari Nagar (R R Nagar). Nominations of three candidates from smaller parties at R R Nagar have been rejected.

As filing of nominations came to an end on Friday, 40 candidates had filed 52 nominations out of which 17 candidates were from Sira and 23 from R R Nagar. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is October 19 and results of the bypolls would be declared on November 10.

The byelection has been necessitated for Sira in Tumakuru district following the death of JD(S) legislator B Sathyanarayana in August, while the R R Nagar seat fell vacant following the disqualification of the then Congress MLA N Munirathna under the anti-defection law last year. While Congress has fielded Jayachandra, a former Minister, who had represented the seat in the past as the candidate from Sira, JD(S) with an eye on sympathy votes has fielded Ammajamma, the widow of Sathyanarayana as the candidate.

Radiologist Dr C M Rajesh Gowda, the son of former Congress MP C P Mudalagiriyappa, who had recently joined the party, is the ruling BJP’s candidate from Sira. In R R Nagar, the Congress has fielded a fresh face – Kusuma H, widow of IAS officer DK Ravi.

She is pitted against V Krishnamurthy of JD(S) and N Munirathna of the BJP. Munirathna, after his disqualification last year, had joined the BJP.

A total of 2,15,693 eligible voters are expected to cast their votes in about 330 polling stations in Sira on November 3. Among the voters 1,10,265 are men, 1,05,418 are women; 4,109 are of age 18-19.

In R R Nagar, 4,60,401 voters are expected to cast their votes in 678 polling stations. Among the voters, 2,40,061 are men, 2,20,261 women; and 3,092 are between 18-19 years of age.

A total of 2,034 electronic voting machines with voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) systems would be deployed for the bypolls in two constituencies. Three categories of voters would be allowed to vote through postal ballot. They include: Those aged above 80, persons with disabilities flagged in the electoral roll and COVID-19 suspects or affected persons, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer Karnataka had said in a press release.