Ananth Kumar, Muniyappa file nominations

The opening day of nominations for the April 17 Lok Sabha polls in the state witnessed as many as 22 candidates, including BJP’s national general secretary Ananth Kumar, Union Minister K H Muniyappa and JD(S) state president A Krishnappa, file their nomination papers.

Five-term MP Ananth Kumar filed his nomination papers for Bangalore South, a keenly watched constituency, where he is pitted against former Infosys co-founder and Unique Identification Authority of India chief Nandan Nilekani of the Congress.

Union Minister of State for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises K H Muniyappa filed his papers for Kolar (reserved) constituency where he is seeking re-election for the seventh term. 

He has been representing the constituency since 1991. 

The BJP has fielded former legislator M Narayanaswamy from the constituency and is banking on “Modi factor” to break Muniyappa’s winning streak.

Former minister Krishnappa, accompanied by former prime minister and JD(S) national president H D Deve Gowda, submitted his nomination papers for the Tumkur Lok Sabha seat. He is pitted against sitting MP G S Basavaraj of the BJP and S P Muddahanumegowda of the Congress.

Former minister Shobha Karandlaje filed her papers for Udupi-Chikmagalur seat. A keen contest is on the cards here with sitting MP Jayaprakash Hedge in fray for a second term.

In Shimoga, Congress candidate Manjunath Bhandary filed his nomination though he is yet to obtain the ‘B’ form from the party.

There is a growing demand within the Congress to field former minister Kumar Bangarappa as the party candidate for Shimoga. A keen contest on the cards here, too, with former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa of the BJP and Geetha Shivarajkumar of the JD(S) in the fray. 

Other prominent candidates who filed their nominations on Wednesday include sitting MP P C Mohan of the BJP from Bangalore Central and former top cop Shankar Bidari, as an independent candidate, from Bagalkot.

The last date for filing nominations is March 26. Scrutiny of papers will be taken up the next day. March 29 is the last date for withdrawal of nominations.