Congress releases list of 218 candidates for Karnataka Assembly elections; CM Siddaramaiah from Chamundeshwari, his son Yatheendra from Varuna

While Siddaramaiah-led Congress is eyeing a second term in the state, BJP wants to spread its wings to the 22nd state.

Congress releases list of 218 candidates for Karnataka Assembly elections; CM Siddaramaiah from Chamundeshwari, his son Yatheendra from Varuna

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Sunday announced its first list of 218 candidates for the upcoming Karnataka Assembly elections 2018. While Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will contest from Chamundeshwari, his son Dr Yatheendra will contest from Varuna constituency in upcoming Legislative Assembly polls.

The grand old party took to Twitter and released its list of candidates for the state Assembly polls scheduled to be held on May 12, 2018. "The Indian National Congress has selected these candidates for the election to the Legislative Assembly of Karnataka," tweeted Karnataka Congress.

With less than a month left for Karnataka to go to polls, both the ruling Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have entered a high-pitched battle on the ground and on social media.

Last week, the BJP had released its first list of 72 candidates following a meeting of the party's Central Election Committee. The committee had met at BJP's Headquarters in New Delhi with party President Amit Shah and committee members including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj present.

Karnataka polls are scheduled to be held in a single phase on May 12 and the counting of votes will be done on May 15. VVPAT machines, apart from EVMs, will be deployed in Karnataka for the polls.

The date of notification is April 17 and the last date to file nominations is April 24. The scrutiny of nominations will take place on April 25 and the last day for withdrawal is April 27.

The 224-member Assembly expires on May 28 in the state where the Congress is currently in power, with 122 seats against the BJP's 43. Karnataka is one of the eight states where polls were scheduled this year.

While Siddaramaiah-led Congress is eyeing a second term in the state, BJP wants to spread its wings to the 22nd state.