After scrutiny of the 492 sets of nominations filed by 358 candidates for the first of the two-phase 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, April 6. 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.
Validly nominated
According to data from the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for Karnataka, 276 candidates have been found to be validly nominated. The final number of candidates who will be in 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 brother-in-law and cardiologist C.N. Manjunath is contesting against D.K. Suresh, incumbent MP.
While four nominations each have been rejected from Udupi-Chikkamagaluru, Chitradurga, Bengaluru Central, and Chikkaballapur, five each have been rejected from Mysuru and Chamarajnagar and six each from Bengaluru North and Kolar.
At 32, the highest number of validly nominated candidates are from Chikkaballapur followed by Bengaluru Central where 28 candidates are found to be validly nominated. As many as 36 candidates are contesting from Chikkaballapur, the highest among the 14 constituencies. This is followed by Bengaluru South (34), Bengaluru Central (32) and Bengaluru Rural (31).
