5 candidates file for four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka

Bengaluru, March 13: Five candidates, including three from the ruling Congress and one each from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) filed nominations for the biennial election to four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka, an EC official said on Monday.

"Of the five candidates, four have filed nominations on the last date (Monday), including three from the Congress and one from the BJP, while JD-S candidate B.M. Farooq had filed nomination on March 9," the Election Commission (EC) official said.

The election has been necessitated to fill the vacancies arising out of retirement of incumbent members Basawaraj Patil, Rahman Khan and R. Ramakrishna of the Congress, and Chandrasekhar.

"The nomination papers will be scrutinised on Tuesday and last date for withdrawal of candidates is on Thursday. Polling and counting of votes will be held on March 23 for all the four seats," added the official.