26 more candidates enter fray in Karnataka

Bangalore, March 23: Former Ministers B T Lalitha Naik and Ramesh Jigajinigi were among the 26 candidates who jumped into the electoral battle on the fourth day of filing of nominations for April 17 Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka.

In all, 111 candidates have filed nominations since the process kick-started on March 19 for the single-phase polls for the 28 seats in the state, Chief Electoral Officer Anil Kumar Jha told reporters here.

Chamarajanagar for the first time witnessed filing of nominations with Congress nominee Dhruv Narayan submitting papers, Jha said. Until yesterday, Chamarajnagar was the only constituency where nominations were not filed, he added.

AAP's Lalitha Naik, who is in the fray against political heavyweight and Railway Minister M Mallikarjun Kharge, filed nomination from Gulbarga Lok Sabha (SC) constituency.

Naik is a new face to the voters of Gulbarga and her candidature came as a surprise even to AAP activists in the constituency.

Jigjinagi filed his nominations for the Bijapur Lok Sabha constituency, where he locks horns with Congress' Prakash Rathod. Apart from Naik, two other candidates of the fledgling AAP also filed ninations from separate constituencies.

K G Sridhar and M R Vasudeva filed their nominations from Shimoga and Dakshin kannada constituencies, respectively. In all, Jha said, the officials have seized Rs 1.44 crore in cash from March 19 till date.

PTI