The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : 48 independents among 73 in the fray; 27 withdraw papers

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Sunday, Dec 14, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

48 independents among 73 in the fray; 27 withdraw papers

Special Correspondent

BANGALORE: Thirty-seven candidates, all independents, withdrew their nomination papers on Saturday from the contest in the byelections to the eight Legislative Assembly constituencies to be held on December 27 in the State, leaving 73 in the fray. There are 27 candidates belonging to the five national political parties and one regional party.

Four members of B.S. Yeddyurappa Ministry are seeking re-election. The eight constituencies that go to the polls are Hukkeri, Arabhavi, Deodurga, Karwar, Turuvekere, Doddaballapur, Madhugiri and Maddur. Saturday was the last day for withdrawal of nomination papers. Twenty-three nomination papers were rejected.

Spokesman in the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer told presspersons here on Saturday that two independents Shubhalatha Asnotikar and Ramesh Katti withdrew their nominations from Karwar and Hukkeri constituencies on Friday. Ms. Asnotikar, Congress MLC, is the mother of the Fisheries and Science and Technology Minister Anand Asnotikar who is contesting on the BJP ticket from Karwar. An independent candidate withdrew nomination from Karwar on Saturday.

He said that Madhugiri in Tumkur district had the highest number of candidates, including 22 independents, in the fray. The Janata Dal (S) candidate Anitha Kumaraswamy, wife of the former Chief Minister and party’s State unit President H.D.Kumaraswamy, the former minister C. Chennigappa of the Bharatiya Janata Party and K.N. Rajanna of the Congress are the main contestants.

In Hukkeri, only three candidates from the three mainstream political parties such as Minister for Horticulture Umesh Vishwanath Katti, Jayaprakash Narayan Nalavade of the Congress and Basavaraj Mathgar of the Janata Dal (S) are left in the fray. Minister for Municipal Adminsitration and Local Institutions Balachandra Jarkiholi and four others, including two from the Janata Dal (S) and Congress, are in the fray in Arabhavi. In Deodurga, Small Savings and Lotteries Minister K. Shivanagouda Nayak is facing nine candidates including those from the Congress, the Janata Dal (S) and the Janata Dal (U).

In Doddaballapur, J. Narasimha Swamy, Chairman of the Karnataka Slum Clearance Board and son of the Congress MP R.L. Jalappa, is trying his luck again and is facing five others.

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