EC notifies LS polls in Karnataka April 17

Bangalore, March 19 (IANS) The Election Commission Wednesday notified single phase elections to the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka April 17.

Polling will be held for 11 hours from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in all constituencies. Counting will be taken up May 16, as in the rest of the country.

As the election process officially began, five-time Bharatiya Janata Party member Ananth Kumar filed his nomination papers from Bangalore South followed by BJP's sitting member P.C. Mohan from Bangalore Central constituency.

Union Minister of State for Small, Micro and Medium Industries K.H. Muniyappa of the Congress also filed his papers from the Kolar (SC) reserved seat, about 100 km from here.

Ananth Kumar will face Congress candidate and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani. He will also be pitted against social activist Nina Nayak of the Aam Aadmi Party.

Of the 28 seats in the state, five are reserved for SC candidates and two for STs.

In the 2009 elections, the BJP had won 19 seats and Congress six, while the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) won three seats.

Nominations can be filed till March 26 and will be scrutinised March 27. Withdrawal will be allowed till March 29.

Formal campaigning for political parties and independent candidates will end April 15.

The poll panel has made disclosure of assets or liabilities of contestants in overseas countries mandatory for the first time in this election.

Meanwhile, the poll panel's Deputy Commissioner Alok Shukla directed officials to strictly adhere to the guidelines for free and fair elections.