Karnataka bypolls: 40 candidates file nominations for Sira, Rajarajeshwari Nagar Assembly seats

Bengaluru: As filing of nominations for the 3 November bypolls for Sira and Rajarajeshwari Nagar Assembly segments in Karnataka came to an end on Friday, a total of 40 candidates have filed 52 nominations, poll officials said. While 17 candidates filed 25 nominations from the Sira Assembly segment, 23 candidates have filed 27 nominations from Rajarajeshwari Nagar (RR Nagar). The scrutiny of nominations will take place on Saturday. The last date for withdrawal of candidature is 19 October and the results will be declared on 10 November. The Sira byelection in the Tumakuru district was necessitated following the death of JD(S) legislator B Sathyanarayana in August, while the RR Nagar seat fell vacant following the disqualification of the then Congress MLA N Munirathna under the anti defection law last year. While Congress has fielded Jayachandra as its candidate, who is a former minister who has represented Sira in the past, the JD(S), with an eye on sympathy votes, has fielded Ammajamma, the wife of late Sathyanarayana, as the candidate. Radiologist Dr CM Rajesh Gowda, the son of former Congress MP CP Mudalagiriyappa, who had recently joined the BJP, is the ruling party’s candidate from Sira. In RR Nagar, the Congress has fielded a fresh face in Kusuma H, wife of late IAS officer DK Ravi. She is pitted against V Krishnamurthy of JD(S) and N Munirathna of the BJP. Munirathna, after his disqualification last year, had jumped ship to BJP. A total number of 2,15,693 eligible voters are expected to cast their votes at about 330 polling stations in Sira on 3 November. Among the eligible voters, 1,10,265 are men, 1,05,418 are women. A total of 4,109 are in the 18-19 age bracket. In RR Nagar, 4,60,401 eligible voters are expected to cast their franchise in 678 polling stations. Among the voters, 2,40,061 are men and 2,20,261 are women. Of them, 3,092 are aged between 18 and 19 years. A total of 2,034 Electronic Voting Machines with Voter-verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) systems will be deployed for the bypolls in two constituencies. Three categories of voters will be allowed to vote through postal ballot, including those aged above 80, persons with disabilities flagged in the electoral roll and COVID-19 suspects or affected persons, the office of the Chief Electoral Officer Karnataka had said in an earlier release.