Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy’s wife Anitha on Monday filed her nomination to contest the Assembly by-poll from Ramanagara constituency, about 50 km southwest of here.
Anitha filed her nomination for the November 3 election, accompanied by the Chief Minister, a Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) leader said.
By-election is being held on November 3 in two Assembly seats — Jamkhandi in northwestern Bagalkot district and Ramanagara city in Ramanagara district. Tuesday is the last day to file nominations.
The vacancy in the two seats was caused following the resignation of the Chief Minister from Ramanagara seat and owing to the death of Congress legislator Siddu Nyamagouda in a road accident on May 28, after being elected from Jamkhandi constituency.
Kumaraswamy, who contested and won from two adjacent Assembly segments, retained the Channapatna seat.
Anitha, 55, declared total assets worth Rs 94 crore and said another Rs 7.88 crore worth of assets belong to her husband.
Backed by the Congress, she is contesting against Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s L. Chandrashekar.
Anitha had earlier won a by-election in 2008 from Madhugiri Assembly seat but lost the by-election for Channapatna constituency in 2012.
In the Jamakhandi seat, Congress candidate and son of late legislator Nyamagouda, Anand Siddu Nyamagouda, and BJP’s Shrikant S. Kulkarni are in the fray.
The JD-S is backing the Congress in Jamakhandi.
Scrutiny for the nominations will take place on Wednesday and the last date for withdrawal of candidatures is October 20.
By-election for three Lok Sabha constituencies in the state — Shivamogga, Ballari (ST) and Mandya — will also be held on November 3.
Coalition partners JD-S and Congress are also contesting the ensuing Lok Sabha by-election together.
BJP’s state unit president and former Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa’s son B.Y. Raghavendra is in fray from the Shivamogga seat, contesting against Janata Dal-United (JD-U)’s Mahima J. Patel, the son of late former Karnataka Chief Minister J.H. Patel (1996-1999).
On the other hand, senior Congress leader V.S. Ugrappa is in fray from Ballari seat against BJP’s J. Shantha.
Shantha, a former member of Parliament in Lok Sabha in 2009, is the sister of BJP’s legislator from the state, B. Sriramulu.
Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs) will be used for the by-polls.
In the 28 Lok Sabha seats from the southern state, the BJP has 15, Congress 9 and the JD-S 1, while three seats are vacant.
In the 224-member Assembly, the BJP has 104, Congress 79 and the JD-S 36.
IANS
