A total of 44 candidates have withdrawn their nomination papers from eight Assembly constituencies in the district, leaving 133 candidates in the fray for the May 5 polls.
Of them, 15 withdrew from Jewargi constituency, where Ajay Singh, son of the former Chief Minister N. Dharam Singh, is contesting. In Gulbarga South, eight candidates withdrew, including Janata Dal (United) candidate Nagendra Harsur. Five candidates each withdrew from Gulbarga Rural and Gulbarga North.
There are now 15 candidates in Gulbarga Rural, including Animal Husbandry Minister Revu Naik Belamagi and the former Minister G. Ramakrishna of the Congress, and 14 in Gulbarga North, including the former Minister Qamar-ul Islam of the Congress.
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In Chittapur, where Priyank Kharge, son of Union Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge is contesting, nine candidates remain in the fray after three withdrew. Constituency-wise, Chittapur has the lowest number of candidates.
The Congress must have heaved a sigh of relief after the withdrawal of influential leader and Congress rebel Maqbool Patel from Afzalpur on Saturday. Fifteen candidates remain in the fray, including the former legislators M.Y. Patil of the KJP, Vittal Heroor of the JD(S), and Dilip Patil of the BJP.
Following the withdrawal of an Independent on Saturday, 13 candidates remain in the fray in Sedam. Among them are two-time MLA Sharanprakash Patil of the Congress; BJP district president Rajkumar Patil; the former Minister Vaijnath Patil, KJP; and Mukram Khan of the JD(S).
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Twelve candidates remain in the fray from Chincholi constituency after the withdrawal of four candidates. Among them are the former Minister Sunil Valyapure, Umesh Jadhav of the Congress, and Ramesh Yakapur from the BJP.
There were no withdrawals from Aland.
111 left in Bidar
Bidar Special Correspondent writes:
As many as 20 candidates withdrew their nominations from five of the six constituencies in the district.
There are now 111 candidates left. Eight withdrew from Bidar South, including Sanjay Kheny of the Karnataka Makkala Paksha. Six withdrew from Bidar: Syed Aslam Ishaq of the All-India Muslim League (Secular), and Independents Ali Khan M.D. Khan, Nayeemuddin Raheemuddin, Shridhar Shripal, Sudesh Kumar Devidas and Syed Wahid Syed Shabbir Ali.
Three Independents withdrew from Bhalki: Indrajit Rao Ramachandra, Anil Naganath and Vivekanand.
Two independents withdrew from Aurad: Hanumanth Nagappa and Baburao Arjun.
Basavakalyan saw the withdrawal of the Lok Satta Party’s candidate, Deepak. No one withdrew from Humnabad.