Nominations of 276 out of 358 candidates found valid
After scrutiny of the 492 sets of nominations filed by 358 candidates for the first of the twophase Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, polling for which will be held on April 26, the Election Commission has rejected 60 nominations.
The scrutiny of the nominations filed by 34 candidates in Bengaluru South has been adjourned to Saturday.
Sources said this is due to a dispute over an organisation named All India Hindu Mahasabha claiming to be a political party. With objections raised over the organisation nominating an official candidate, the organisation has sought time to furnish further documents to prove its claim, sources said.
According to data from the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for Karnataka, nominations of 276 candidates have been found to be valid. The final number of candidates who will be in the fray for the April 26 polling will be known after April 8, which is the last date for withdrawal of candidature.
The highest number (10 sets) of papers rejected are from Mandya, where former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy is contesting.
With seven rejections, Bengaluru Rural follows where Mr. Kumaraswamy’s brotherinlaw and cardiologist C.N. Manjunath is contesting against D.K. Suresh, incumbent MP.
While four nominations each have been rejected
The highest number (10 sets) of papers rejected are from Mandya, where former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy is contesting
from UdupiChikkamagaluru, Chitradurga, Bengaluru Central, and Chickballapur, five each have been rejected from Mysuru and Chamarajanagar and six each from Bengaluru North and Kolar.
At 32, the highest number of valid nominations are from Chickballapur followed by Bengaluru Central where 28 nominations were found to be valid. As many as 36 candidates are contesting from Chickballapur, the highest among the 14 constituencies. This is followed by Bengaluru South (34), Bengaluru Central (32) and Bengaluru Rural (31).