BENGALURU: A total of 31 candidates remained in the fray in two assembly constituencies — RR Nagar and Sira — for November 3 bypolls, after six candidates withdrew from the contest on Monday.
RR Nagar assembly segment in Bengaluru, that is likely to witness a direct contest between BJP candidate N Muniratna and Congress’ H Kusuma, will have 16 candidates in the fray, including JDS candidate V Krishnamurthy.
Interestingly, a person named Muniratna, who was among the four candidates and had filed nomination as an Independent candidate, withdrew from the contest on Monday. The other three who withdrew their nominations are Muniratnamma, Anandan C, and R Kumar.
In Sira, the constituency that is set to witness a three-cornered contest between the ruling BJP, Congress and the JDS, will have 15 candidates in the fray. While the BJP is hoping to win Sira for the first time, the Congress seems to be confident of making a comeback of losing it by around 10,000 votes in 2018 elections.
The JDS is fighting to retain the seat by riding on the sympathy wave. The bypoll in the constituency was necessitated after JDS MLA B Sathyanarayana’s death. The regional party has fielded his wife Ammajamma as its candidate against BJP’s Dr CM Rajesh Gowda and Congress’ TB Jayachandra.