K'taka poll: Fate of 2,948 candidates to be decided by 43.61 mn on May 5

2,778 male and 170 female candidates in the fray

With the date for withdrawal of nomination papers for the May 5 elections ending on Saturday, as many as 2,948 candidates are left in the fray for all 224-assembly constituencies. The Election Commission had received 3,692 nominations, which were valid. Of this, 744 nominations were withdrawn, chief electoral officer Anil Kumar Jha said.

There are 2,778 male candidates and 170 female candidates in the fray. The Congress party has fielded candidates for all 224 constituencies, while BJP and JD(S) are contesting for 223 and 222 constituencies respectively. BSP is contesting from 175, NCP from 24, CPI (M) and CPI are contesting from 17 and 8 constituencies respectively.

The remaining include 932 from registered unrecognised parties and 1,223 independents. There are over 16 candidates for 33 constituencies. "We require 2,700 additional voting machines for these 33 constituencies and we have an excess stock of 15,000 electronic voting machines. This is in addition to 65,000 EVMs required for the polls. Each district will be stocked with 100 extra EVMs," Jha said.

There are 43.61 million voters eligible to cast their votes. Of this, 22.27 million are male voters and 21.33 million are female voters, while 2,919 are others. Bangalore South has highest number of voters at 447,914, while Kudachi in Belgaum district has the lowest number of voters at 147,749.

Till now, Election Commission has seized Rs 9.92 crore cash at various places in the state. On Monday, the commission seized 257 litres of alcohol, 880,000 sarees and rice bags.

The commission has booked a complaint against Karnataka Janata Party based on a complaint filed by BJP for violation of model code of conduct. "We will seek a response from KJP on the complaint and we will forward their response to the commission for further action," Jha said.