In all, 2,655 candidates are in fray for May 12 Karnataka Assembly elections, a data from the state Chief Electoral Office said. Mulbagal constituency in the state's Kolar district has the highest number of contesting candidates with 39 in fray for the seat.
According to the data, of the 3,509 who filed valid nominations for the 224-Assembly segments by the last date on Tuesday, 583 candidates withdrew by Friday and 271 were rejected after their papers were scrutinised on Wednesday.
Of the candidates in the fray, including 219 women, 222 are from the ruling Congress, 224 from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 201 from Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), 1,155 Independents and 800 from other national, regional and fringe parties, according to the final list released by the poll panel.
Karnataka is slated to witness a three-corner contest involving the ruling Congress, the BJP and the HD Deve Gowda-led JD(S).
Polling will be held in a single phase for all the 224-Assembly constituencies in the state, including 36 reserved for the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and 15 for Scheduled Tribes (STs). Counting of votes will take place on May 15.
