247 candidates in fray including 21 women for Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka on April 26

247 candidates in Karnataka's Lok Sabha polls on April 26, with 21 women and high withdrawals in Bengaluru Rural.

In all, 247 candidates are in the fray for the first of the two-phase Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, polling for which will be held on April 26, after the last date for the withdrawal of nominations on Monday. 

Of 300 candidates, who filed valid nomination papers by the deadline on April 4, a total of 53 withdrew from the contest by Monday.

After scrutiny of the 492 sets of nominations filed by 358 candidates for the April 26 polls, the Election Commission rejected 74 nominations by Saturday.

According to data from the Office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) for Karnataka, one candidate withdrew on April 6 and 52 on Monday. 

According to the final list of candidates shared by the Election Commission, 21 of the 247 candidates are women. With six women candidates contesting from Bengaluru North, this constituency has the highest number of female contestants. While the BJP has fielded incumbent Minister Shobha Karandlaje in this constituency, the Congress’ M.V. Rajeev Gowda is in the fray.

While Bengaluru Central and Bengaluru South have three women candidates each, two are in the fray in Chitradurga.