In Karnataka, 560 nomination papers filed

Bangalore, March 26 (IANS) Nearly 560 candidates representing various political parties and Independents have filed nominations for the Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka, a senior election official said Wednesday.

"As there was rush of candidates on the last day for filing nominations, the number of candidates will go up from 560 after we receive and tally the final figures from all the 28 parliamentary constituencies," state chief electoral officer Anil Kumar Jha told reporters here.

Filing of nominations began March 19 when the single-phase parliamentary poll across the state to be held April 17 was notified.

"All candidates who were present in the offices of the returning officers in all the constituencies by 3 p.m. were allowed to file nominations. As many candidates filed more than one set of papers, the number of nominations is 845 so far," Jha said.

Of the total, 225 candidates filed 380 nominations on the last day (Wednesday), with more candidates turning up at the last minute in the high-profile Bangalore South constituency from where the BJP's five-time winner Ananth Kumar will be pitted against Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani of the Congress.

Prominent candidates filing papers Wednesday included former state chief minister and Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy and former BJP minister Bachhe Gowda from Chikkaballapur where union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister M. Veerappa Moily of the Congress is contesting for the second time.

Former minister B.R. Sriramulu, who re-joined the BJP recently, is fighting from Bellary Reserved (ST) constituency where his sister Shanta won the 2009 election while representing the same party.

Kannada actress Ramya from Mandya, where she won in a bye-election in August 2013, C. Narayanaswamy from Bangalore North, and former union minister B. Janardhan Poojary from Dakshina Kannada have all been fielded by the Congress.

"Scrutiny will be taken up Thursday and withdrawal will be allowed on two days -- Friday and Saturday," Jha said.

Meanwhile, a record 1.5 million additional people have registered as voters in the final phase of enrolment till Wednesday, taking the total electorate to 46,229,101 across the state.

In a related development, the poll panel seized Rs.2.48 crore unaccounted cash and a whopping 34,626 litres of liquor valued Rs.1.32 crore from across the state and booked cases against the offenders for violation of the Model Code of Conduct.