Six candidates file nominations for April 18 LS polls in Karnataka
Eleven nominations received
Bengaluru, Mar 19: With the election commission issuing notification for General Election in 14 Lok Sabha constituencies of Karnataka that will go to polls in the first phase on April 18, six candidates have filed their nomination Tuesday, officials said.
A total of eleven nominations have been received from six candidates, officials said, adding that among the candidates one each are from Dakshina Kannada, Mandya, Bangalore South, and three from Mysore.
With all the three major political parties the BJP, the Congress and the JD(S), yet to announce their list of candidates, those who filed nominations on Tuesday were said to be mainly independence and from smaller parties.
Leaders of all the three main political parties have said the first list of candidates from their respective political parties are likely to be announced in a couple of days.
Karnataka will go for polls in two phases, 14 constituencies each, on April 18 and 23.
While the last date for the filing of nominations for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls is on March 26, scrutiny will take place on March 27 and last date for withdrawal is March 29.
For the second phase polls on April 23, notification will be issued on March 28.
The last date for nomination is April 4, scrutiny on April 5 and the last day for withdrawal April 8.
Counting of votes and announcement of results for both phases is scheduled for May 23.
In the 2014 general election, BJP had bagged 17, Congress 9 and JD(S) two seats.
However in the bypolls, the BJP had yielded the Bellary seat to Congress.
The ruling Congress-JD(S) combine that has decided to contest the polls in alliance will contest in 20 and 8 seats respectively.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
