Bengaluru: The political landscape in Karnataka witnessed a surge of activity as a total of 358 candidates, including a staggering 211 Independents, filed their nominations for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections across 14 constituencies. With the final day for submission of nominations drawing to a close, Thursday marked a flurry of last-minute filings, bringing the total tally to 333 male candidates and 25 female candidates, as reported by the State Election Commission.
Notably, the absence of nominations from candidates identifying as the third gender was observed. Among the newly filed nominations, Bengaluru South Lok Sabha Seat garnered the highest attention with 49 contenders, closely followed by Chikkaballapura with 43 and Bengaluru Central Seat with 40 candidates.
While major political parties such as BJP, Congress, BSP, JD-S, and CPI-M contributed to the candidate pool, the dominance of Independent candidates, numbering 211, underscores the diverse and decentralized nature of the electoral contest.