Priya Dutt, Rakhi Sawant, Mehbooba file nominations

Congress MPs Priya Dutt, Gurudas Kamat and Sanjay Nirupam, PDP leader Mehbooba Mufti, MDMK chief Vaiko and actor Rakhi Sawant were among candidates who filed nominations today for April 24 election to 117 seats in the sixth phase.
All 39 candidates of ruling AIADMK in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry submitted their papers between 1.30 PM and 2.15 PM, considered auspicious by the party.
Vaiko, whose MDMK is an ally of NDA, filed his nomination from Virudhunagar Lok Sabha constituency. A total of 131 candidates filed their nominations in the state today, taking the tally so far to 198.

Mufti and Aam Aadmi Party candidate Tanveer Maqbool Dar filed nominations for Anantnag Lok Sabha seat in Kashmir which the PDP leader had represented from 2004 to 2009.
Gurudas Kamat is seeking re-election from Mumbai North West and Nirupam from Mumbai North.
Priya Dutt filed her nominations from Mumbai North Central after visiting several shrines -- the Siddhivinayak temple, Chaitya Bhoomi, Maqdoom Shah Baba Dargah, Dhan Pothdar Gurudwara and Mount Mary Church.

BJP candidate from Mumbai North Gopal Shetty and Rakhi Sawant of Rashtriya Aam Party and actor-filmmaker Kamaal Khan of Samajwadi Party, who are contesting from Mumbai North West, also filed their papers. Six Mumbai seats are among 19 constituencies in Maharashtra which will go to polls on April 24.

The last date for filing nominations for the sixth phase is April 5, scrutiny will take place on April 7 and the last date for withdrawal is April 9.
In Uttar Pradesh, where nominations are being filed for 12 seats, Akshay Yadav, son of Samajwadi Party's national general secretary Ramgopal Yadav, entered the fray from Firozabad Lok Sabha seat.
Prominent among the AIADMK candidates who filed nominations are M Thambidurai from Karur seeking a fifth term in the Lok Sabha, and J Jayavardhan, son of former Assembly Speaker D Jayakumar (South Chennai).
Apart from all 39 seats in Tamil Nadu, election will be held on April 24 in six seats in Assam, seven seats in Bihar, seven in Chhattisgarh, one in Kashmir, four in Jharkhand, 10 in Madhya Pradesh, 19 in Maharashtra, five in Rajasthan, 12 in Uttar Pradesh, six in West Begal and one in Puducherry.

Filing of nominations for 89 seats that will go to polls on April 30 in the seventh phase will begin tomorrow with the issuance of notification.