As many as 190 candidates are in the fray for the current election to the Tumkur City Municipal Council, while 126 are contesting in Tiptur CMC and 182 in Sira CMC.

The prestigious Kunigal TMC has 83 candidates testing their luck.

Tumkur has 35 wards while Sira and Tiptur have 31 each. Kunigal, Chikkanayakanahalli, Madhugiri and Pavagada TMCs all have 23 wards; Gubbi and  Turuvekere Town Panchayats have 17 wards and Koratagere Town Panchayat has 14. The number of contestants are as follows - 61 in Chikkanayakanahalli, 99 in Madhugiri, 73 in Pavagada, 61 in Pavagada, 49 in Turuvekere and 56 in Koratagere.

The Congress and JD (S) have fielded candidates in all the 35 wards of Tumkur CMC, while the BJP has fielded only 30. The BSP has fielded seven and the Left parties, six contestants. The JD (U) has fielded two.

Apart from these, 77 independents are also in the fray. On the surface, it is evident that these independents are giving a tough fight to the official candidates of the parties, thereby ensuring that the result will be an interesting one.

In Tiptur, both the Congress and the JD (S) have fielded their candidates in all the wards while the BJP has 26 contestants, the BSP and JD (U) two and 34 are independents.

Sira CMC boasts 100 independents, the highest in the entire district. The Congress is contesting in all 31 wards while the JD (S) is in 30 and the BJP in 14 wards. BSP has fielded seven candidates and the result is expected to be interesting here as well.

As many as 980 candidates are trying their luck including those of all the local bodies in the district. It is to be noted here that the BSP has fielded candidates in all the 234 wards of the district. Apart from this, the Congress is contesting in 231, JD (S) 232 and BJP 150 seats.

Distinctions

The Congress has had the distinction of the party that has the highest number of minority candidates by giving the ticket to 10 Muslim candidates in the Tumkur CMC elections. JD (S) has eight and the BJP, two. At the same time, the JD (S) has fielded the largest number of women -15 - in Tumkur CMC.

NAME GAME

The Tumkur CMC poll has provided an interesting feature. Many of the candidates have aliases as well as pet names. While male candidates are attracting attention with their aliases and pet names, the women candidates have gone a step further, adding their husbands’ names below their names in the space provided.

While the ballots contained the candidates’ legal names, the campaign material - banners, buntings etc had all the aliases, pet names and the like. It remains to be seen who have really won the voters’ confidence this time.