With one candidate withdrawing his nominations on Tuesday, the number of candidates contesting for the Chalakudy Lok Sabha constituency has been reduced to 18. The candidate, who chose to withdraw the nomination, was identified as Girija Vallabhan. Meanwhile, none of the 20 candidates for the Ernakulam seat withdrew their nominations during the day.
Candidates will have time to withdraw nominations till 3 p.m. on Wednesday and the final list of contestants will be available thereafter.
A total of 43 candidates filed 96 sets of nomination papers for the Ernakulam and Chalakudy constituencies when the period for filing nominations expired on Saturday. Of this, 49 sets of nominations were submitted for Ernakulam and 47 for Chalakudy.
According to district election officials, the candidates can withdraw their candidature by giving a notice in Form 5 signed by the respective contestant and delivered before 3 p.m. on Wednesday. The said proposer or the election agent should have been authorised in writing by the candidate to deliver the notice of withdrawal on his behalf. The Form 5 contains in its bottom portion a receipt which will be filled and handed back to the person who delivers the notice of withdrawal. The receipt will serve as the record of the withdrawal.
