Bengaluru, April 18: Only 29 candidates, including 17 Independents, filed their nominations till Wednesday across the state for the May 12 Karnataka polls.
According to the Election Commission (EC)'s website, the 29 candidates filed a total of 34 nominations, with three candidates filing more than one nomination, after Karnataka Governor Vajubhai R. Vala notified on Tuesday the single phase polling in 224 assembly seats.
Among the nominations, one was from the ruling Congress, two from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and two from the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S), while the remaining are 17 Independents and other parties.
As per the notification, April 24 is the last date for filing nominations. Scrutiny of nominations will be on April 25 and last date for withdrawal of candidatures is April 27.
Polling is to be held from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. across 58,546 polling stations across the state using Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) with Voter Verified Paper Audit Trails (VVPATs). Votes will be counted on May 15.
In a related development, the EC surveillance squads along with the police, have seized cash worth over Rs 31.28 crore from across the state since March 27, when the model code of conduct was enforced in the state.
Over 1.13 lakh litres of liquor valued at over Rs 4.5 crore was also seized from the state by the Excise Department.
The southern state has till date 4.96 crore electors - 2.52 crore men and 2.44 crore women. Over 15 lakh are first time voters in the 18-19 age group.
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No govt protection, claims actress who accused CPI(M)'s Mukesh of sexual abuse
Kochi (PTI): A 51-year-old Malayalam actress who had levelled sexual abuse allegations against several male actors, including CPI(M) MLA M Mukesh, on Friday said she was not keen on pursuing her complaints due to "lack of support and protection from the Kerala government".
The complainant also alleged "carelessness" on the part of the state government and said she was "mentally exhausted" and therefore, not keen on taking the complaints forward.
"I would like to tell everyone that due to the government's carelessness and lack of protection for a woman who has come forward like this, I have suffered more than I can handle. I am mentally exhausted. They are not helping or protecting a woman.
"Therefore, I do not want to pursue the cases. It is not because I have compromised with anyone," she told reporters.
She claimed that she was made an accused in a POCSO case following her complaints against the actors, also including Maniyanpilla Raju and Idavela Babu, and the government did nothing to protect her.
"I am innocent. I want justice. I want the POCSO case against me to be probed thoroughly and quickly. If I commit suicide, the government will be responsible for it," she said.
The Muvattupuzha police had registered the case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, against the woman actor based on a complaint lodged by her relative.
According to the police, the incident occurred in 2014. The relative has alleged that she was a minor at the time of the incident and that the actor was running a sex racket.
The actor had vehemently denied the allegations and claimed that the woman relative owed her some money, and these allegations were to shift attention from her complaint against the high-profile actors.
The actress' allegations against the actors came in the wake of the disclosure of the Justice Hema Committee report which revealed instances of harassment and exploitation of women in the Malayalam cinema industry, prompting calls for action against the guilty.
The Justice Hema Committee was constituted by the Kerala government after the 2017 actress assault case.
The complete report was placed before the Kerala High Court which directed that it be handed over to the special investigation team (SIT) that was constituted to probe complaints of sexual abuse in the film industry.
Subsequently, 26 FIRs were registered by the SIT in connection with the revelations in the report.
