BJP general secretary and sitting MP Bandi Sanjay files his nomination for Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat in Karimnagar on Thursday. Telangana BJP president and Union Minister G Kishan Reddy (second from right) and Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel (third from right) are also seen.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
The forthcoming elections to the Lok Sabha are set to witness multi-cornered contests in some constituencies as a large number of aspirants filed their nominations until Thursday, the last day for filing nominations.
Election officials received close to 1,500 nominations by the close of day on Thursday with several candidates, mostly independents, filing their nominations on Thursday. In all, 1,488 nominations have been filed by 895 candidates by Thursday, the deadline for filing nominations.
According to the website of the Chief Electoral Officer, Malkajgiri constituency accounted for the highest number of nominations at 177 followed by Nalgonda and Bhongir with 114 each. Nagarkurnool (SC) constituency reported the lowest number of nominations at 32.
Adilabad saw 42 nominations, Mahbubabad constituency 56 and Mahbubnagar 69. Hyderabad constituency saw 70 nominations being filed and Zaheerabad 68, while Secunderabad reported 70 nominations.
Nizamabad and Peddapalli constituencies reported 90 nominations each, and 83 nominations were received in Warangal till last reports came in. The large amount of paperwork, senior officials said, is due to multiple sets of nominations filed by candidates as well as their supporters.
Several key candidates of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) filed their nominations on Thursday. These include Karimnagar MP Bandi Sanjay Kumar, who is seeking reelection from the same constituency, Dharmapuri Arvind from Nizamabad and M. Raghunandan Rao from Medak constituency. Union Home Minister Amit Shah accompanied Mr. Raghunandan Rao in his nomination rally.
BRS candidate P. Venkatarami Reddy filed his papers from the same constituency on Thursday afternoon amid much fanfare. The Congress and BRS candidates filed their papers on Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of the closing day of filing nominations. Some of these candidates are said to have submitted their B-forms to the returning officers in the respective constituencies on Thursday afternoon.
The scrutiny of nominations will take place on Friday. April 29 is the last day for withdrawal of nominations. Election for the 17 Lok Sabha seats in the State is scheduled on May 13 and counting of votes will take place on June 4.
